Bannerman Castle -- an amazing Scottish fortress on the Hudson

When motorcycle riders want to escape from the confines of the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area, they often follow the Hudson River north into Rockland, Orange, Westchester and Putman counties. The lower Hudson valley offers a great mix of twisty, hilly, two-lane back roads that share the woodlands and rocky lake country with the Appalachian Trail. On both sides of the river, two and four-lane routes follow the Hudson's sweeping contours through the highlands and past Revolutionary War battlefields and many other historic sites.

Route 9W, Route 6, and the Palisades Interstate Parkway merge in the hills above the Hudson's west bank near Bear Mountain Bridge. For those who have never ridden across this span, just passing through its storybook tollbooth is worth the $.75 -- at least once. On the other side, travelers can turn left and head north along scenic Route 9D as it follows the Hudson's eastern shore.

As part of the Hudson River Greenway Trail from Bear Mountain Bridge to Beacon, the two-lane Route 9D is a fun motorcycle ride that's full of interesting sights and places to stop -- natural and manmade. I thought I had seen them all. But, I recently learned that the steep embankments and woods along 9D about 12 miles north of the bridge hide one of the most startling landmarks in the lower Hudson River valley.

A fortress for an arsenal.

The dark, vine covered remains of a massive fortress called Bannerman Castle dominate a small, rocky island a few hundred yards from the Hudson's eastern shore. Frank Bannerman VI built this edifice in the early 1900s -- not as a home, but as an arsenal for his immense collection of surplus military weapons and equipment purchased from counties around the world.

Bannerman has been called the "Father of the Army and Navy Store." At one time, his company was the world's largest commercial buyer and seller of surplus military equipment ranging from cannons and gunpowder to bayonets and scabbards to hats and boots. The business was immense. For example, at the close of the Spanish American War, Bannerman purchased 90 percent of all captured equipment. During the Russian-Japanese war, he filled an order for 100,000 saddles, rifles, knapsacks, haversacks, gun slings, uniforms, and 20 million cartridges, plus a shipload of other assorted military goods. Cities throughout the United States purchased cannons and artillery pieces from Bannerman's company, and then placed them in town parks as monuments commemorating our armed forces.

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