creek, then rises again to the NY 55 exit, one of two roads serving the city of Poughkeepsie to the west, near Freedom Plains. Its slow undulation with the landscape continues past the now closed Skidmore Road grade crossing as it heads due north into the town of Pleasant Valley and the less developed half of Dutchess County. The roadways separate widely () again for a mile in the woods east of James Baird State Park. An entry road forks to the left from the northbound lane and crosses the southbound lane via an underpass with on/off ramp. The two roadways descend and come together again by the Mountain Road grade crossing. It climbs a hill after the McDonnell Road crossing, then descends to the Rossway Road crossing. A quarter-mile () to the north, a dead-end road leaves the northbound lane for the nearby Taconic–Hereford Multiple Use Area. Several other local roads cross the parkway until it reaches one of its straightest stretches, which then curves to the first grade-separated exit in several miles, US 44, the other main route to Poughkeepsie, between Millbrook and Pleasant Valley. The road passes through a much more wooded area as it makes a long curve into its next junction, the grade intersection at Hibernia Road. A bridge over Wappinger Creek to the north separates that grade crossing from the one with Hollow Road (CR 14) and takes the road into the town of Clinton. Another half-mile () north, at the next exit, NY 115 has its eastern terminus while Salt Point Turnpike continues. A slight western slant continues as the parkway traverses a landscape now thoroughly rural, with fields and woodlots alternating. Two more grade crossings, at Willow and Pumpkin lanes, follow through a long curve to the east and back. At Nine Partners Road, the Taconic is back on a northward heading as it slips east of the Stanford town line. It begins to climb onto the high ground between the Hudson and the Taconic Mountains to the east. To the west there are occasional glimpses across the river valley to the Catskill Escarpment to the west. From here the parkway bends eastward again, entering the town of Milan and climbs slowly through generally wooded area, passing another grade crossing at Cold Spring Road. The next exit, at NY 199, is the last in Dutchess County. After another long bend east, the