The Wallkill Valley Rail Trail is a

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

and

linear park A linear park is a type of park that is significantly longer than it is wide. These linear parks are strips of public land running along canals, rivers, streams, defensive walls, electrical lines, or highways and shorelines. Examples of linear p ...

that runs along the former

Wallkill Valley Railroad The Wallkill Valley Railroad is a defunct railroad which once operated in Ulster and Orange counties in upstate New York. Its corridor was from Kingston in the north to Montgomery in the south, with a leased extension to Campbell Hall. It cros ...

rail corridor in

Ulster County, New York Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. History ...

. It stretches from Gardiner through

New Paltz New Paltz () is an incorporated U.S. town in Ulster County, New York. The population was 14,003 at the 2010 U.S. Census. The town is located in the southeastern part of the county and is south of Kingston. New Paltz contains a village, also with ...

, Rosendale and

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

to the Kingston city line, just south of a demolished, concrete Conrail railroad bridge that was located on a team-track siding several blocks south of the also-demolished Kingston New York Central Railroad passenger station. The trail is separated from the

Walden–Wallkill Rail Trail The Walden–Wallkill Rail Trail, also known as the Jesse McHugh Rail Trail, is a rail trail between the Walden, New York, village of Walden, New York and the neighboring Wallkill, Ulster County, New York, hamlet of Wallkill. The two communities ...

by two state prisons in Shawangunk, though there have been plans to bypass these facilities and to connect the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail with other regional rail-trails. The northern section of the trail forms part of the

Empire State Trail The Empire State Trail is a multi-use trail in New York State that was proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo in January 2017 and completed in December 2020. The trail runs from Manhattan north to the Canadian border in Rouses Point near the northern t ...

. Plans to create the rail trail began as early as 1983, when New Paltz considered uses for the then-defunct Wallkill Valley rail corridor; the railroad had ceased regular traffic in 1977 and, by 1983, had begun to remove its tracks. In 1991, a local

land trust Land trusts are nonprofit organizations which own and manage land, and sometimes waters. There are three common types of land trust, distinguished from one another by the ways in which they are legally structured and by the purposes for which th ...

, the Wallkill Valley Land Trust, purchased the section of the former rail corridor between New Paltz and Gardiner, and conveyed the New Paltz section to the town and village of New Paltz with permanent land protection agreements, held by the Wallkill Valley Land Trust. The trail was formally opened between New Paltz and Gardiner in 1993, though Gardiner did not purchase its section from the Wallkill Valley Land Trust until 2007: again, with a land protection agreement placed on it. The length of the trail was effectively doubled by an Ulster County unpaid-tax foreclosure land seizure, in 2009. The Wallkill Valley Land Trust, in partnership with Open Space Institute, acquired the additional property from Ulster County and began several capital campaigns to open-up public access. The extension included the Rosendale trestle, a bridge across

Rondout Creek Rondout Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 tributary of the Hudson River in Ulster and Sullivan counties, New York, United States. It rises on Rock ...

. There are several other bridges that carry the trail, though none are as long. The trail serves hikers, joggers, bikers, horseback riders and cross-country skiers. It passes through several historic districts, such as Huguenot Street in New Paltz, and the

Binnewater Historic District The Binnewater Historic District is a national historic district located at Rosendale in Ulster County, New York, United States. The district originally included nine contributing buildings built during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. T ...

and Snyder Estate in Rosendale. The trail also traverses

U.S. Route 44 U.S. Route 44 (US 44) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that runs for through four states in the Northeastern United States. The western terminus is at US 209 and New York State Route 55 (NY 55) in Kerhonkson, ...

(

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with State Route 55), and state routes

299 __NOTOC__ Year 299 (Roman numerals, CCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and Maximian (or, l ...

and 213. Several natural features are visible from clear points along the trail, such as the

Shawangunk Ridge The Shawangunk Ridge , also known as the Shawangunk Mountains or The Gunks, is a ridge of bedrock in Ulster County, Sullivan County and Orange County in the state of New York, extending from the northernmost point of the border with New Jersey ...

to the west and the

Plattekill Creek Plattekill Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 15, 2020 tributary of Esopus Creek in the Catskill Mountains in the U.S. state of New York. From its source ...

between New Paltz and Gardiner. The trail passes through dense vegetation, and is frequented by many types of animals and

overwintering Overwintering is the process by which some organisms pass through or wait out the winter season, or pass through that period of the year when "winter" conditions (cold or sub-zero temperatures, ice, snow, limited food supplies) make normal activi ...

birds.

History

Stretching from Montgomery to Kingston, the

operated from 1866 until its last regular freight run on December 31, 1977. During the 1980s, its owner,

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...

, began to salvage the former corridor's steel rails and sell-off sections of the rail bed. State law mandated that, in such sales, offers must be made first to the state; then to the involved counties and municipalities. The state bought a portion of rail bed between Shawangunk and Gardiner in November 1985, for the construction of the

Shawangunk Correctional Facility Shawangunk Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison for males located in the Town of Shawangunk, Ulster County, New York in the United States. The facility lies just outside the Ulster County hamlet of Wallkill, whose post office serv ...

in the hamlet of Wallkill. While Montgomery and Shawangunk purchased their sections of the railroad – , respectively – in 1985, eventually creating the

, the towns of New Paltz, Gardiner and Rosendale initially declined to purchase their sections of the rail line. The town of Shawangunk has been evaluating plans to bypass the state prison to connect the Walden–Wallkill and Wallkill Valley trails since 2004, and such a connection was listed as a project in a 2008 county-wide transportation plan. The latest proposal involves diverting the trail along Birch Road. The Wallkill Valley Rail Trail was the seventeenth rail trail created in New York state, and became a

National Recreation Trail The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...

in 2007.

New Paltz and Gardiner

Converting the former corridor to a rail trail was first considered in a 1983 environmental report commissioned by the town of New Paltz. The study considered repurposing the corridor as a road for cars, but determined that the right-of-way, "lend ngitself to multiple and simultaneous 'people-oriented' transit", was "ideally suited for use as a trail for hiking, strolling, running, cycling and cross-country skiing". In 1988, New Paltz invited a local non-profit, the Wallkill Valley Land Trust, to acquire the portion of the rail line between New Paltz and Gardiner. The Wallkill Valley Land Trust in turn requested assistance from

The Trust for Public Land The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...

, and the purchase was completed on January 18, 1991. While the town and village of New Paltz immediately purchased their sections from the Wallkill Valley Land Trust, with conservation easements on them – roughly , respectively – Gardiner did not purchase its section until much later; again, at that time, the Wallkill Valley Land Trust stewards held the conservation easements. Portions of the New Paltz–Gardiner section were informally open since June, 1991, but the formal opening ceremony of the full trail between New Paltz and Gardiner took place on October 9, 1993. Sojourner Truth bridge

The Gardiner section was in such a state of disrepair in 2004 that the Wallkill Valley Land Trust almost closed it. Gardiner received a $100,000 grant from the

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYS OPRHP) is a state agency within the New York State Executive Department Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law § 3.03. "The office of parks, recreation a ...

in December 2006, and the purchase was completed in 2007. The state provided an additional $5,000 to maintain the trail. Purchasing the section allowed Gardiner to fix the drainage problems that had deteriorated the surface of the trail and to ban the use of motor vehicles. Though the section was worth $307,300, the Wallkill Valley Land Trust sold it to Gardiner for $70,000. In 2009 and 2010, the

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defic ...

held protests along the Gardiner section of the trail. In November 2009, New Paltz received grants from the Greenway Conservancy, a state organization, to fund several rail trail–related projects. This included $17,750 to create a link between the New Paltz section of the trail and the

Hudson Valley Rail Trail The Hudson Valley Rail Trail is a paved east–west rail trail in the town of Lloyd in Ulster County, New York, stretching from the Hudson River through the hamlet of Highland. The trail was originally part of the Poughkeepsie Bridge Route, a ...

in nearby Lloyd, which was in turn being extended eastward to the

Poughkeepsie Bridge The Walkway over the Hudson (also known as the Poughkeepsie Bridge, Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, Poughkeepsie–Highland Railroad Bridge, and High Bridge) is a steel cantilever bridge spanning the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie, New York, ...

; the connection with the bridge was completed in October 2010. The Wallkill Valley Railroad had considered such a connection after the bridge opened in 1889, but never built one. The grants also included $7,000 to create of

ADA Ada may refer to: Places Africa * Ada Foah, a town in Ghana * Ada (Ghana parliament constituency) * Ada, Osun, a town in Nigeria Asia * Ada, Urmia, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Ada, Karaman, a village in Karaman Province, ...

-accessible trail, to connect the parking area of a local park, named after

Sojourner Truth Sojourner Truth (; born Isabella Baumfree; November 26, 1883) was an American abolitionist of New York Dutch heritage and a women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to f ...

, with the rail trail. The town had intended to connect the parking area with the trail since the late 1990s, but concerns over traffic, as well as state requirements, had added to the time and cost of the path; it was completed by June, 2010. The connections are part of a county-wide plan to create a bicycle path along NY 299, to link regional rail trails.

Rosendale

The Rosendale portion of the rail bed runs from Rosendale through Ulster to Kingston and contains the Rosendale trestle. The trestle rises above

and State Route 213, and also spans the former

Delaware and Hudson Canal The Delaware and Hudson Canal was the first venture of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, which would later build the Delaware and Hudson Railway. Between 1828 and 1899, the canal's barges carried anthracite coal from the mines of northeaster ...

. At the time of its construction it was the highest

span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan ester ...

bridge in the United States. Conrail sold the Rosendale section, including the bridge, in 1986 to a private area businessman, John E. Rahl, for one dollar. Rahl maintained that the purchase granted him the right to "restore rail service on the whole Wallkill line", and to joint ownership of Conrail. Between 1989 and 1991, Rahl installed planking and guard rails on the southern half of the bridge, which was then opened to the public. He intended to allow

bungee jumping Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...

off the bridge, and did so until a January, 1992 court order held that it violated zoning laws. Douglas Hase, an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

who had run both bungee jumping and

hot air ballooning Hot air ballooning is the activity of flying hot air balloons. Attractive aspects of ballooning include the exceptional quiet (except when the propane burners are firing), the lack of a feeling of movement, and the bird's-eye view. Since the b ...

companies, tried unsuccessfully in 2003 and 2004 to get a

variance In probability theory and statistics, variance is the expectation of the squared deviation of a random variable from its population mean or sample mean. Variance is a measure of dispersion, meaning it is a measure of how far a set of numbers ...

for such a venture. Rosendale NY

After Rahl failed to pay $13,716 in property taxes over a period of three years, Ulster County foreclosed on the property on April 15, 2009. The Wallkill Valley Land Trust and

Open Space Institute Open Space Institute (OSI) (not to be confused with the facilitator network of open conversation space) is a conservation organization that seeks to preserve scenic, natural and historic landscapes for public enjoyment, conserve habitats while s ...

placed a bid on the land parcels comprising the Rosendale section on April 22, 2009, and agreed to pay all outstanding taxes before receiving full ownership on July 8, 2009, with the intention of adding it to the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail. Following an engineering survey, the bridge was closed to the public in June 2009, for repairs. Renovations were completed in 2013, allowing for the bridge to be opened to the public. Canopy Development, a

green development Green development is a real estate development concept that considers social and environmental impacts of development. It is defined by three sub-categories: environmental responsiveness, resource efficiency, and community and cultural sensitivity ...

company from

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

, owns a portion of the former rail bed in Rosendale. It has agreed to establish a

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

, rerouting the trail to allow public access. Another obstruction between Rosendale and Ulster is a private swimming pool, which will be bypassed. The

Mohonk Preserve The Mohonk Preserve is a nature preserve in the Shawangunk Ridge, north of New York City in Ulster County, New York. The preserve has over of cliffs, forests, fields, ponds and streams, with over of carriage roads and of trails for hiking, cyc ...

and Open Space Conservancy were given a $20,000 state grant in March 2011, to maintain the portion of the trail by Kingston. By the end of summer, 2013, the last outstanding trail segment along the Rosendale-Kingston extension was opened to the public, completing the entire 23.7-mile rail trail. A regional business association has proposed a link between the trail, in Rosendale, and a series of regional rail trails. The proposal would create a network of rail trails across the towns of Marbletown,

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, and Wawarsing. Several involved towns have been working toward accomplishing such a connection.

Route

The trail begins at Denniston Road, in the southern part of the town of Gardiner. Movement farther south is impossible, because the corridor south of Denniston Road is fenced off by

barbed wire A close-up view of a barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...

. After roughly , it crosses Sand Hill Road before approaching the hamlet of Gardiner at the mark. Once in the hamlet, the trail intersects

(

with State Route 55). Located within the hamlet are a defunct, former dairy

creamery A creamery is a place where milk and cream are processed and where butter and cheese is produced. Cream is separated from whole milk; pasteurization is done to the skimmed milk and cream separately. Whole milk for sale has had some cream re ...

and the site of the former Gardiner railroad station. Built in 1881 and opened the following year, the creamery was one of the dairies that transported its products to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

by way of the Wallkill Valley Railroad. It was originally the property of the Borden family, but closed in the 1920s, and has since been renovated as an apartment complex. The former Gardiner railroad station ceased operations when the rail line closed. It became a sporting goods store by 1981, a video store by the early 1990s, and an antique store by 1995. The station burned down on October 10, 2002. The trail crosses Phillies Bridge Road north of the hamlet, with an

overpass An overpass (called an overbridge or flyover in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries) is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway. An ''overpass'' and ''underpass'' together form ...

carrying the trail over Forest Glen Road farther. The road overlies the

Catskill Aqueduct The Catskill Aqueduct, part of the New York City water supply system, brings water from the Catskill Mountains to Yonkers where it connects to other parts of the system. History Construction commenced in 1907. The aqueduct proper was completed i ...

and

Delaware Aqueduct The Delaware Aqueduct is an aqueduct in the New York City water supply system. It takes water from the Rondout, Cannonsville, Neversink, and Pepacton reservoirs on the west bank of the Hudson River through the Chelsea Pump Station, then into ...

. Originally supported by trestles and a stone foundation, the overpass was rebuilt in 1910 during the construction of the Catskill Aqueduct. The reconstruction removed the trestles and added a concrete foundation. Though a local legend holds that the bridge was originally built in response to the death of a prominent woman at the Forest Glen railroad crossing, it is more likely that it was built to maintain the rail line at a consistent grade. A little over from the bridge is the site of the former Forest Glen station. The trail crosses Bridge Creek Road and Old Ford Road about from the Forest Glen bridge, respectively, before entering the town of New Paltz. Walkill Rail Trail View

Shortly after entering New Paltz, the trail crosses a bridge over

. The

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

for the bridge was completed by late June 1870, and

trestle ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Laborato ...

work was done by July. Originally made of wood, the bridge was accidentally set on fire in 1880 by ashes or sparks from a passing train. This prompted the railroad to coat its rail ties with tin while replacing its wooden bridges with ones made of stone. The bridge's original

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

s were made of

Shawangunk conglomerate Shawangunk ( ) may refer to: In New York *Shawangunk, New York, a town in Ulster County * Shawangunk Correctional Facility, in Ulster County * Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge, in Ulster County *Shawangunk Kill, a tributary of the Wal ...

. It was rebuilt in 1912, and crosses the Plattekill Creek at a height of .A placard affixed to the Plattekill Creek bridge by the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail Association. The

is visible from the bridge. Plains Road is shortly after the bridge, and the trail continues for before crossing Cedar Lane. It crosses Plains Road again after another , reaching the Sojourner Truth park in the village of New Paltz. The trail is connected to the park via a small footbridge constructed in 2010 by the

Alexandria, Minnesota Alexandria is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Minnesota, United States. First settled in 1858, it was named after brothers Alexander and William Kinkead from Maryland. The form of the name alludes to Alexandria, Egypt, a center ...

–based construction company Contech. It has a weight limit of and is able to withstand earthquakes. At the edge of the park, the trail crosses Water Street and enters the Water Street Market, a "restored area of boutiques, galleries, and cafés". It then crosses State Route 299 and passes

La Stazione La Stazione may refer to: * La stazione (1952 film), ''La stazione'' (1952 film), a documentary by Valerio Zurlini * ''La stazione'', or The Station (1990 film), ''The Station'' (1990 film), an Italian comedy-drama by Sergio Rubini * New Paltz stat ...

, the former railroad station. The refurbished depot had been originally built in 1870, rebuilt after a 1907 fire, and sold to private interests in 1959. The building was in a state of disrepair by the early 1980s, but renovated in 1988 and converted to an Italian restaurant in 1999. Over the next , the trail passes North Front Street, Broadhead Avenue, and Mulberry Street. After another the trail traverses Huguenot Street, a historic district containing colonial-era stone houses. Some of the houses date to the late 1600s. Wallkill River From Trail

About from Huguenot Street, the trail reaches the Springtown bridge spanning the

Wallkill River The Wallkill River, a tributary of the Hudson, drains Lake Mohawk in Sparta, New Jersey, flowing from there generally northeasterly U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed Octo ...

. The bridge was originally made of wood and completed by the middle of December 1870, but was rebuilt between 1880 and 1881, using iron, by Clarke, Reeves & Co. It was rated by the superintendent of the Wallkill Valley Railroad to be safe for rail traffic as fast as . The bridge's decking and benches were put in place in 1993 by volunteers and members of the nearby

Hutterite Hutterites (german: link=no, Hutterer), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptism, Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Refor ...

community in the hamlet of Rifton. The design of the bridge's railings was influenced by

equestrians Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, Driving (horse), driving, and Equestrian vaulting, vaulting ...

to better accommodate horses. Immediately after the bridge is Springtown Road. The trail continues west of the Wallkill River. Roughly from the Springtown bridge, the trail crosses Cragswood Road. Another farther, it reaches the New Paltz–Rosendale boundary line, continuing another on formerly private property to Mountain Road in the hamlet of Rosendale. Restorations to the Rosendale trestle were completed, and the bridge was opened to the public in June, 2013. This added over the Rondout Creek to Kingston, crossing Interstate 87 and terminating by State Route 32. The extension passes through the town of Ulster and includes four small bridges between Rosendale and Kingston.

Recreation

The road between the former railroad station and Water Street Market was the first site of a new town crosswalk system that opened on March 29, 2008. Under the new system, pedestrians can use flags placed in roadside containers to signal traffic. The trail connects with the Sojourner Truth park, which has had access to the

for

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

and

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

since April 27, 2003. The Minnewaska Preserve and

, featuring of combined walkways, can be reached through New Paltz. Beers Ulster County Atlas Page088

The trail connects to the

in Rosendale. The district was the location of several local quarries which opened throughout the region after the 1825 discovery of rocks capable of producing

Rosendale cement Rosendale cement is a natural hydraulic cement that was produced in and around Rosendale, New York, beginning in 1825. From 1818 to 1970 natural cements were produced in over 70 locations in the United States and Canada. More than half of the 35 mi ...

in the nearby hamlet of High Falls. At its peak, the district was producing 4,000,000 barrels a year and employed 5,000 people. Though the Binnewater rail station was once part of the historic district, it was located too close to Binnewater Road and was hit repeatedly by trucks until it fell apart in May 1989. The station was subsequently demolished by the county highway department. Another historic district, the Snyder Estate, runs along the Rosendale section. The Snyder Estate is a former mining site once used by all four major regional cement producers. The Rosendale trestle has been the site of numerous picnics, barbecues, and at least one wedding. One person has tried bungee jumping off the bridge without a restraining cord. Several

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial ...

s are visible along the trail, with views of the

to the west; the skytop tower of the

Mohonk Mountain House The Mohonk Mountain House, also known as Lake Mohonk Mountain House, is an American resort hotel located south of the Catskill Mountains on the crest of the Shawangunk Ridge. The property lies at the junction of the towns of New Paltz, Marbletow ...

is visible on one of the cliffs. Parking for the trail is provided at a municipal lot on Farmers Turnpike in Gardiner. In New Paltz, there are parking lots at the Sojourner Truth park, off Springtown Road, at the Huguenot Historical Society, and at a

Board of Cooperative Educational Services The Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES //) is a program of shared educational services provided to school districts by the New York State Legislature. History BOCES owes its origin to a state legislative enactment authorizing the f ...

(BOCES) conference center. The trail runs parallel to state routes

208 Year 208 ( CCVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Geta (or, less frequently, year 961 ''Ab urbe condita' ...

and 32; there are two

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...

s on Route 32, a 63-spot lot in New Paltz, and a 58-spot lot in Rosendale. There are two bicycle shops along the trail in both Gardiner and New Paltz. Beers Ulster County Atlas Page088

The trail connects to the

in Rosendale. The district was the location of several local quarries which opened throughout the region after the 1825 discovery of rocks capable of producing

s are visible along the trail, with views of the

to the west; the skytop tower of the

(BOCES) conference center. The trail runs parallel to state routes

and 32; there are two

s on Route 32, a 63-spot lot in New Paltz, and a 58-spot lot in Rosendale. There are two bicycle shops along the trail in both Gardiner and New Paltz.

Surface

The surface of the Rail Trail is mostly gravel, while road crossings are paved.

Mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which ...

s are recommended to traverse to trail by cycle, as the trail is fairly rough. Cars are not allowed on the trail. In the winter, you can do

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

on the trail.

Flora and fauna

Flora along the northern end of the trail includes

sumac Sumac ( or ), also spelled sumach, is any of about 35 species of flowering plants in the genus ''Rhus'' and related genera in the cashew family (Anacardiaceae). Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, including Eas ...

(''Rhus'') and

honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both contin ...

(''Lonicera'') shrubs,

American elm ''Ulmus americana'', generally known as the American elm or, less commonly, as the white elm or water elm, is a species of elm native to eastern North America, naturally occurring from Nova Scotia west to Alberta and Montana, and south to Flor ...

(''Ulmus americana''), bigtooth aspen (''Populus grandidentata'') and

quaking aspen ''Populus tremuloides'' is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, one of several species referred to by the common name aspen. It is commonly called quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, mountain or golden aspen, tr ...

(''Populus tremuloides''). As the trail approaches Gardiner to the south, there are occurrences of

sugar maple ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the prima ...

(''Acer saccharum''),

American beech ''Fagus grandifolia'', the American beech or North American beech, is a species of beech tree native to the eastern United States and extreme southeast of Canada. Description ''Fagus grandifolia'' is a large deciduous tree growing to tall, w ...

(''Fagus grandifolia''),

tulip-tree ''Liriodendron'' () is a genus of two species of characteristically large trees, deciduous tree, deciduous over most of their populations, in the magnolia family (biology), family (Magnoliaceae). These trees are widely known by the common name ...

(''Liriodendron tulipifera'') and

black birch Black birch is a common name for several trees, and may refer to: * Asian black birch, the English name for '' Betula dahurica'', tree species native to eastern Asia * Black birch, a common name for ''Betula lenta'', tree species native to eastern ...

(''Betula lenta''). Other trees common on the trail include

red maple ''Acer rubrum'', the red maple, also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes it as the most abundant nativ ...

(''Acer rubrum''),

shagbark hickory ''Carya ovata'', the shagbark hickory, is a common hickory in the Eastern United States and southeast Canada. It is a large, deciduous tree, growing well over tall, and can live more than 350 years. The tallest measured shagbark, located in Sa ...

(''Carya ovata''), northern pin oak (''Quercus ellipsoidalis''),

eastern red cedar ''Juniperus virginiana'', also known as red cedar, eastern red cedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, and other local names, is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico a ...

(''Juniperus virginiana''), white ash (''Fraxinus americana'') and

eastern white pine ''Pinus strobus'', commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland, Canada west through the Great Lakes ...

(''Pinus strobus''). Many animals pass through the trail unobserved, leaving behind tracks. This includes bears, deer, coyotes, dogs, bobcats, cats, skunks and rabbits. Several bird species

overwinter Overwintering is the process by which some organisms pass through or wait out the winter season, or pass through that period of the year when "winter" conditions (cold or sub-zero temperatures, ice, snow, limited food supplies) make normal activi ...

in the region and can be observed from the trail, such as the

mourning dove The mourning dove (''Zenaida macroura'') is a member of the dove family, Columbidae. The bird is also known as the American mourning dove, the rain dove, and colloquially as the turtle dove, and was once known as the Carolina pigeon and Caroli ...

(''Zenaida macroura''),

blue jay The blue jay (''Cyanocitta cristata'') is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to eastern North America. It lives in most of the eastern and central United States; some eastern populations may be migratory. Resident populations are a ...

(''Cyanocitta cristata''),

bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...

(''Sialia''),

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

(''Cardinalis cardinalis''),

starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The Sturnidae are named for the genus ''Sturnus'', which in turn comes from the Latin word for starling, ''sturnus''. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, ...

(''Sturnus vulgaris''),

downy woodpecker The downy woodpecker (''Dryobates pubescens'') is a species of woodpecker, the smallest in North America. Length ranges from . Downy woodpeckers primarily live in forested areas throughout the United States and Canada, with the exception of deser ...

(''Picoides pubescens''),

American goldfinch The American goldfinch (''Spinus tristis'') is a small North American bird in the finch family. It is migratory, ranging from mid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of the Canada–United States border to ...

(''Spinus tristis''),

tufted titmouse The tufted titmouse (''Baeolophus bicolor'') is a small songbird from North America, a species in the tit and chickadee family (Paridae). The black-crested titmouse, found from central and southern Texas southward, was included as a subspecies, ...

(''Baeolophus bicolor''),

black-capped chickadee The black-capped chickadee (''Poecile atricapillus'') is a small, non-migratory, North American songbird that lives in deciduous and mixed forests. It is a passerine bird in the tit family, the Paridae. It is the state bird of Massachusetts and ...

(''Poecile atricapillus''), sparrow (''Passer'') and

purple finch The purple finch (''Haemorhous purpureus'') is a bird in the finch family, Fringillidae. Taxonomy This species and the other "American rosefinches" were formerly included with the rosefinches of Eurasia in the genus ''Carpodacus''; however, the ...

(''Carpodacus purpureus'').

In popular culture

The Springtown Truss Bridge was used as a location for key scenes in the

John Krasinski John Burke Krasinski (; born October 20, 1979) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his role as Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom ''The Office''. He also served as a producer and occasional director of the series throughout its nine ...

horror film ''

A Quiet Place ''A Quiet Place'' is a 2018 American post-apocalyptic horror film directed by John Krasinski and written by Bryan Woods, Scott Beck and Krasinski, from a story conceived by Woods and Beck. The plot revolves around a father (Krasinski) and a mo ...

'', as well as its

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

Wallkill Valley Land Trust
– Founded and maintains the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail
Rail Trail Map
Map of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail
Rails to Trails Conservancy
{{Rail trails in New York National Recreation Trails in New York (state) Parks in Ulster County, New York Wallkill Valley Railroad Nature reserves in New York (state)