---
title: "Write the Road: Rte 301 Leads to Buddha"
description: "A band of Catskills pavement steers you, perhaps inevitably, toward enlightenment."
date: "2015-10-21"
modified: "2015-10-21"
authors:
  - name: "Lawrence Ulrich"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/lawrence-ulrich"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/article/590/write-the-road-rte-301-leads-to-buddha"
categories:
  - "Car Reviews"
---

# Write the Road: Rte 301 Leads to Buddha

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/mercedesamggts_0915_hero_1920.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Slicing below treetops whose leaves flash the bright banners of fall, State Route 301 offers New Yorkers a 19-mile respite from traffic, noise and pigeon droppings the size of Pollack paintings.

Arcing like the sun along this Putnam County road, flashing $9,900 worth of optional pearlescent yellow paint, the [Mercedes-AMG GT S](<https://www.thedrive.com/supercars/142/the-2016-mercedes-amg-gt-s-is-the-most-interesting-car-this-year>) gets a 503-horsepower jump on the autumn colors—and every other car on the road, which [was officially renamed](<https://archive.lohud.com/article/20120620/NEWS04/306180112/Putnam-s-Route-301-renamed-Hudson-River-Turnpike>) the Hudson River Turnpike in 2012.

Head east from Cold Spring on the Hudson River’s banks, past the Appalachian Trail crossing in [Clarence Fahnestock State Park](<https://parks.ny.gov/parks/133/details.aspx>) (patience required here, as my girlfriend and I are reminded by a Kent Police cruiser lurking in the weeds) and the fun begins: another 12 miles worth of snake-charming curves that take the measure of any automobile.

![mercedesamggts\_0915\_art\_1.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/mercedesamggts_0915_art_1.jpg>)
**Lawrence Ulrich**

Measure the GT S for a superhero cape, because the Benz passes Route 301’s test with literal flying colors. Brutal yet elegant, sensationally fast, the Mercedes uses its 4-liter biturbo V8, high-purity hydraulic steering and seemingly limitless front-end grip to pummel every corner before we roll more meditatively into [Chuang Yen Monastery](<https://www.baus.org/en/?cat=14>).

The monks’ hypnotic chants pulse from Chuang Yen’s soaring temple as we clamber out of the low-slung coupe and climb the steps. A 37-foot tall, Lotus-legged Buddha statue—the largest and thus portliest indoor version in the U.S.—casts its benevolent gaze down. Considering the Benz’s style, supernova paint and $171,900 as-tested price, we look like a screaming affront to Buddha’s teaching about the rejection of material things. But later, when we burble past Seven Jewels Lake and a robed monk and his friend signal us to roll down the windows, we receive not a withering reproach but the ultimate car-buff compliment: “Can we borrow your car, just for a few hours?” the friend inquires.

Would it put me on the Dharma Path, I ask?

“It would be very meritorious,” the monk replies, grinning. Such are the mystical powers of the AMG GT S.

![mercedesamggts\_0915\_art\_2.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/mercedesamggts_0915_art_2.jpg>)
**Lawrence Ulrich**

Karma on the upswing, we follow Route 301 as it teases along the West Branch Reservoir. Some 8 billion gallons of dammed water settle there before being pumped south, blended in a Catskills cocktail and pipelined to thirsty Gotham. We cruise across the Carver Bridge, a dike-like bulwark that spans the reservoir, and attack the final twisting, tar-patched miles to Route 301’s finish line at the county courthouse in Carmel.

We cool our heels, and the Benz’ carbon-ceramic brakes, at Scoops and More, an old-school ice cream stand where the high school students behind the window gush over our German bombshell. The AMG GT S fairly perspires in the sun, and we decide it’s time for our own workout on the Appalachian Trail, taking in just a sliver of its 2,168-mile length.

It’s all part of the beauty of this two-lane gem: Whatever your means of propulsion, Route 301 leaves you enlightened.

![mercedesamggts\_0915\_art\_3.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/mercedesamggts_0915_art_3.jpg>)
**Lawrence Ulrich**

## Author
Born and forged in the Motor City, now a Brooklynite, Lawrence is the former chief auto critic at the *New York Times* and *Detroit Free Press*. His award-winning work has appeared in *Automobile*, *Road & Track*, *Fortune*, *Conde Nast Portfolio*, *Men's Journal*, *Popular Science* and others.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/lawrenceulrich>)