Papa Tom

'Taking a chance on posting here again. Go easy on me and I will try not to piss anyone off.

This weekend, my wife and I took a last-minute drive upstate (NY) with our bikes and, after doing the Dutchess and Hudson Valley Rail Trails (including the very cool Walkway Over The Hudson), we made a stop in New Paltz to return to one of our favorite rail trails from the past.

I am sad to say that we found the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail in pretty poor shape this time around. The surface, which was once a well-maintained bed of crushed gravel, is very bumpy and inconsistent, making the ride really unpleasant. After just a few miles of bone-rattling cruising, we aborted.

On a positive note, though, everywhere we went, we kept seeing hints of a brand new, well-paved trail marked as the "Empire State Trail," which I subsequently learned is due to be completed in 2020. A nice chunk of this trail ran almost all the way into New Paltz from somewhere around the NYS Thruway exit and was also spotted near the Thruway exit in Kingston. I am going to head over to Google right after this post to learn more about the Empire State Trail, but for those of you from NYC and LI (like me) who may not be familiar with this project, I can say that it looks like one that will soon be worth a special trip upstate to check out.

jlaw

NYS at the behest of the governor is providing some real money to create/expand/improve significant bike trail mileage. The project was started a couple years ago (?) and should be done by the end of 2020. 750 continuous miles is the claim.

https://www.ny.gov/programs/empire-state-trail

Steve B.

It’s possible the trail you saw at New Paltz is the extension of the Duchess Rail Trail. It had existed as far as Tony Williams Town Park, just east of New Paltz and was extended this past year to almost the Thruway. Then theres on-street signage into NP and down to the Walkill.

Or or is this something different and new ?

Papa Tom

I have a feeling that all the trails up there are eventually going to be folded into the Empire State Trail, which is how the trail into New Paltz is signed. I can see where that might physically be an extension of the Dutchess Trail, though.

dendawg

There is also a new trail extension that runs from the Walkill west to the Mohonk Preserve. I belive you need to pay a fee or be a member to ride the trails in the Preserve itself
https://www.openspaceinstitute.org/p...to-ridge-trail

Andrey

The Wallkill Valley Trail north of New Paltz was "improved" this past spring. Now it is it much wider and higher (less puddles), but the surface is very bumpy, so it is much harder to ride fast. Hopefully they will put more fine gravel to even the surface for next year. It is still better that the Dutchess Trail, since it is not paved and less boring IMHO.

indyfabz

Which direction did you ride? Last year I rode south from New Paltz during my St. Albans, VT, to Philly tour. Adventure Cycling substituted the trail for roads (, Libertyville, Bruynswick, etc.,) on its Atlantic Coast route. I found the trail boring and in pretty bad shape. The southern end was muddy, and generally the whole thing was bumpy.

What really irked me about going that way is that the trail ends in the middle of nowhere. You have to loop around to busy Wallkill and then take Bruyn Tpk. to rejoin the original route. That early part of that road was very busy. It has no shoulder and there is at least one pretty steep grade. I am afraid the route change is an instance of adding trail miles for the sake of trail miles. If I ever do that segment again I will stick to the roads.

Steve B.

I've heard this. The section south from NP has been the poor cousin and somehow was never really completed down in the Walkill and Walden area. Part of the reason I think is the rail line is still used into Walden,

indyfabz

There is a gap. You can see it on Google Maps. The trail ends at Denniston Rd. From there, you can see the right of way but, IIRC, it runs through a field that is fenced off. Google shows it as an in-named road, but you can see the former right-of-way on satellite view. Then it picks up again at River Rd, where it is called the Schwangunk, Walden & Wallkill Rail Trail. That turns into Railroad Ave. in Wallkill. I suspect that the former right-of-way there was made into a street, as sometimes happens. The trail starts again on the south side of Bona Ventura Ave./NY 208 and continues to Walden. It looks as if the trail could be extended south from Denniston Rd. to Horse Farm Rd., but between there and River Rd., where it starts again, there has been some development, including a house, on the former right-of-way.

Papa Tom

Ah...now I know what the "multi-quote" button is for! (See my replies below)

Hmm, the improvements certainly didn't show. I believe we were up there two years ago and it was nothing like this. The absence of any other cyclists on an otherwise busy Sunday in New Paltz seemed to reflect that something has gone wrong with this trail. Many cyclists were headed to the new Empire State Trail, but NOBODY was riding the Wallkill Valley RT that day.

We started out heading north toward Rosendale, where we usually turn around after the scenic trestle. After maybe a couple of miles at the most, we couldn't stand the involuntary chattering of our teeth any more, so we turned around and decided to try the south end, which I don't remember ever riding before. That lasted less than a mile before we got bored and shell-shocked from all the bumps.

This was a huge disappointment for us because we are big fans of the New Paltz "scene" and the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail gave us a good excuse to go there every year or two. Now I am not sure we'll be back, at least not together. The Empire State Trail looks like something I might ride for distance, but I don't know that my wife (a casual cyclist, at best) will be interested.

indyfabz

The Empire State Trail is not a trail in itself. It's a system of existing and proposed trails that includes the Wallkill Valley Trail. In other words, the Wallkill Valley Trail is part of the Empire State Trail.

https://www.ny.gov/empire-state-trai...re-state-trail

Steve B.

Agreed.

And as far as I can tell, the route for the Empire Path in the New Paltz area is going to be the Walkill Path south from Kingston, then and in NP it will be on street thru New Paltz till east of the ThruWay to South Street a 3 mile section, where it will then hookup up with the Ulster County section of the Duchess Rail Trail. I believe there is signage in New Paltz currently for the on-street portion, that uses Henry DuBois Drive to New Paltz Bye-Pass, then to Rt 299 to South St. Or that's what I've read. The Ulster County map for the Duchess Trail doesn't show this currently.

Papa Tom

All very exciting. I hope I am able to ride long enough to see all these projects completed.

Steve B.

There are a couple up this way that will be even better:

- Extension of the Duchess Rail Trail south east from Hopewell Junction to Brewster. In the works supposedly and will mean bike path from Kingston to Hopewell then to Brewster and then the Putnam and Westchester paths to NYC. Dunno, 100 miles ?, 120 ?

- Continual work on the Harlem Valley Rail Trail. Section from Millerton north to Boston’s Corner and then from Copake Falls to Chatham, something like 40 miles.

- Millbrook line going east from Brewster to Danbury and who knows how far thru Connecticut.

Papa Tom

>>>>>- Extension of the Duchess Rail Trail south east from Hopewell Junction to Brewster. In the works supposedly and will mean bike path from Kingston to Hopewell then to Brewster and then the Putnam and Westchester paths to NYC. Dunno, 100 miles ?, 120 ?<<<<<

Wow...Maybe one of these summers I will be able to take an overnight ride or two within NY State, instead of traveling to Connecticut every year. Let's see, I'm gonna be 57. How many more years can I wait?

UniChris

Any sense about the current condition of the Walkill?

Made it most of the way into New Paltz on a warm early-February Monday but after first riding to the Hopewell end, the sign indicating the end of the bike lane at Henry Dubois and Old Mill Rd felt like my cue to turn around and head for the train home rather than ride down a moderate hill into the center of town only to have to ride back up it.

Trying to figure out if it's worth taking the train back up to Poughkeepsie specifically to poke around on the western side and sample the Walkill before (or without) doing the easy miles of the eastern...

Will note that February saw the water fountains and bottle fillers on the HVRT turned off, though the doggie faucet on one was on and those on the Poughkeepsie side worked. Plenty of fluid/food purchase options in the newly built section alongside the road west of Lloyd - beside-a-highway miles aren't charming but not too bad except for wind (and in summer, sun) exposure, and the new pavement is indeed nice.

Since the new part had no previous purpose it actually has Empire Trail emblems as the primary markers.

It does feel a bit like a bait-and-switch however that right after crossing the thruway at Putt Corners pedestrians are directed straight into town on the sidewalk while cyclists are directed back to Henry Dubois on what starts out a decent shoulder bike lane but soon ends at Old Mill.