Thanks for your reply. Advice well taken. Will need to pick a weekend when it's not brutally hot and humid (the drive up there will rob me of the precious morning coolness).

A search of this group turned up a similar thread from ~10 years ago with Sunrise mentioned and also Montana rd (Google shows it in Washington twp, NJ between 78 and 80). Any thoughts on that one? Seems like a nice 6 mi stretch and a somewhat shorter drive.

I live near Princeton, NJ. There are actually some areas that are pretty hilly around here. Problem is, the hills are kind of short and there's traffic. Last fall I found a "road less traveled" within about 25 min drive that has a short steep section and a more gradual but sustained 0.7 mi climb that is suitable for repeats. After only a few outings there I saw a pretty big improvement on snow.

I may take you up on that climb in MD when I'm in the area!