The perfect Queens ride

Mileage: 19
Time: About two hours
Highlights: The Long Island Motor Parkway, bayside views in Douglaston and the modernized Civil War outpost Fort Totten

A Take the F train to the last stop (179th Street). Enter Jamaica Estates on Midland Parkway at Hillside Avenue. Ride along Midland Parkway among the stately oak trees, Tudor homes and McMansions, and make a left onto 188th Street; turn right on Aberdeen Road; turn left on 193rd Street. In two blocks you’ll be at Union Turnpike and a main shopping corridor. (Lulu’s Bakery at 186th Street is worth a stop.)

B Continue on 193rd Street and turn right at 75th Avenue. You’ll end at 199th Street, Cunningham Park. Walk to the sidewalk and head to the right, up the bridge and over Francis Lewis Boulevard. This pathway takes you through one of the last lush forested areas in Queens, and to the former Vanderbilt (now called Long Island) Motor Parkway. Follow the path to the right and veer into a pedestrian tunnel under the Clearview Expressway. At the other side bear right; in a few hundred feet, the path turns sharply left. Now you’re on the former Vanderbilt Motorway. Follow this through Alley Pond Park until you hit Winchester Boulevard.

C Make a left on Winchester Boulevard and head underneath the maze of highways above you. Go downhill and make a left at the fork, heading uphill on Douglaston Parkway. Following Douglaston Parkway, cross the Long Island Expressway into Douglaston. Pass the Northern Boulevard shopping corridor into Douglaston Manor, one of Queens’ prettiest neighborhoods. At the three-way fork, stay to the middle and continue on Douglaston Parkway. It curves to the left. At 38th Road, Douglaston Parkway turns into West Drive. At the end of West Drive, make a left at Shore Road and you’ll start to see the water of Little Neck Bay.

D Shore Road meets back up with West Drive at its end. Make a right onto Bay Street; left on 233rd Street; left on 41st Avenue (passing the Douglaston LIRR station). Make another left on 235th Street. At the stop sign, make a sharp right back onto Douglaston Parkway. Continue until Northern Boulevard and make a right. When you reach the Cross Island Parkway, don’t cross the entrance ramp. Bear right onto the path (Joe Michaels Mile) that goes along Little Neck Bay.

E At the end of the bike path, bear right on Totten Avenue and head into Fort Totten. Stop at the guard gate and they’ll let you ride through the nearly abandoned fort grounds.

F At the gates of Fort Totten, head through the parking lot on your right. Enter Little Bay Park and you’ll find a pathway along the water that ends at Utopia Parkway. Make a left on Utopia and cross the Cross Island Parkway, 26th Avenue and Francis Lewis Boulevard.

G Go left at Underhill Avenue along Kissena Corridor Park and make a right at 188th Street. Make a right onto the 73rd Avenue bike lane. Make a left at 179th Street and cross Union Turnpike back into Jamaica Estates. As you cross Union Turnpike, 179th Street becomes Surrey Place. Bear right at the fork onto Midland Parkway. Midland ends at Hillside Avenue and delivers you back to the 179th Street F Station.