Northeast - Walkway over the Hudson!!

Our family just got home from the day's festivities high (200+ ft) over the Hudson River on what was in it's day the longest bridge in the world. This is the ultimate 'Rail Trail' experience. It was really too crowded to bike today, and I suspect it will be so for a few more days until the frenzy subsides. Today it was packed with people trying to squeeze past a dozen or so bands and other acts playing to an appreciative crowd.

Earlier in the day my older daughter danced as part of the the 'One River, Many Streams' festival in Waryas Park on the waterfront in Poughkeepsie. The dignitaries cut the ribbon after lunch, and the rebuilt pedestrian/cyclist only new deck opened to the public at 3 PM. We joined them for the 1.25 mile gate to gate walk after that.

This bridge joins the still under construction rail trails on both sides (Dutchess and Ulster Counties), and will eventually allow one to ride from Hopewell Junction all the way to New Paltz. It was a big day in the Hudson Valley!

Pictures when I get them off my camera! (I'm so damn excited....)

http://www.walkway.org/

Nice! I've got to check that out.

I ran in the Treetops to Rooftops 5K race over the bridge this morning - it's magnificent.

Almost hard to believe that it is finally open. After the race, I went and walked out and back one more time just to take it all in.

I going to try to ride it tomorrow about 1pm. I have to drive to the train station to drop someone off, I plan to park there and unload the bike.

5 Boro Bike Club has a ride across the bridge next Sunday Oct 11th
http://5bbc.org/rides.shtml#upcoming

Promise, they won't be disappointed!

I going to try to ride it tomorrow about 1pm. I have to drive to the train station to drop someone off, I plan to park there and unload the bike.

Well it is very nice...crowded now but I bet it will not be that bad by next summer. The views are spectactular and I am sure that folks will come up with some rides that will include a bridge crossing. Currently the bike trails from either side are not complete so you are doing street (city) riding on the Po'town side and county hills on the Lloyd side. Anyway well worth the trip to see it. If you crank up the hill on the west side, there is a gas station/subway/store where you can get a coffee, water, snack etc.http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp125/finnyct90/Photo_100509_001.jpg
http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp125/finnyct90/Photo_100509_004.jpg

Oooooooooooh! Shiny!

That'll be a nice ride when the leaves turn.

Glad to hear that you enjoyed the view!

A few weeks back I took my kids on the newest segment of the Dutchess Rail Trail, which ends right near Dutchess Community College (Morgan Lake), about a mile from the bridge. The county still hasn't secured the rights to the last segment, but that fight will hopefully be done soon. Now that the bridge is open, I suspect that the pressure will be on to settle on the right price and get it graded & paved.

How do I get to this via westside greenway or riverside drive? I've gone up past the GW bridge on the greenway a bit but not sure how far this actually is? Or is this even possible? Like I would need to take metronorth up or something?

edit
-yea excuse above I didn't read...poughkeepsie eh?

Hey Fibber,
from the bridge, would I go left up parker ave (Rt.9G) to get to the east end of the trail?
I just can't picture how to get from there to DCC...up parker then take a right on creek?
I knew Poughkeepsie better 30 years ago than I do now.

I was thinking of working it into a Salt Point tpk loop to PV then back on 44 to Overocker.
The west end must be over by Sun Wall?

Hey Fibber,
from the bridge, would I go left up parker ave (Rt.9G) to get to the east end of the trail?
I just can't picture how to get from there to DCC...up parker then take a right on creek?
I knew Poughkeepsie better 30 years ago than I do now.

I was thinking of working it into a Salt Point tpk loop to PV then back on 44 to Overocker.
The west end must be over by Sun Wall?

You sort of can't get there from here! With about 5000' of railroad path missing, your best bet is probably to follow Parker northeast past the concrete block place until it splits to become Violet (North) and Pendell (east), go pass DCC, then south on Creek to the lake. You will see the parking lot on your right as you pass over the rail trail, and the entrance is by the park benches.

The other end (about 2.5 miles) is right by Sun Wall & Paint. I used to work right there nearly 30 years ago - 70 Overocker Rd was Harris Semiconductor. We made SRAM chips in Pok once upon a time.

Hey, I remember more than I think!
Funny, I worked for an engineering company at the end of "off yer rocker" road back in the mid 80s.
Chazen Engineering. Did a lot of work for IBM.

Updating this thread rather than starting another one...

On Monday I was in Poughkeepsie on business, so I did the bridge on the Dahon folding bike that I keep in my wagon. It was a glorious ride! Trees are leafing out, and the picture is totally different from my last visit to the bridge in January when the single digit temps and ice flows on the river literally took my breath away.

And because of the bridge, a lot is changing. We now have a bicycle rental shop at the Pok side. They rent tandems, cruisers, kid trailers, adult trikes, etc. I told the guy I'd come to work for him as the shop wrench, as he admitted that fixing what breaks isn't his forte. He even asked me how a presta valve worked!

A local restaurant guy was doing surveys of bridge users. He is thinking of buying the old auction house across the street for a sitdown restaurant, and setting up outside dining at the bridge parking lot.

On the Highland side, they held groundbreaking ceremonies last weekend to complete the trail segment going from the bridge to the Hudson Valley Rail Trail in the village, that heads towards New Paltz. There is also a small snack bar running on the Highland side.

Downside? They want to begin charging $5-$10 per day to park in the lots at the trailheads!!! And still no word about securing the rights on the Pok side to join the bridge to the Dutchess rail trail a mile away near Dutchess Community College.

Hey, I remember more than I think!
Funny, I worked for an engineering company at the end of "off yer rocker" road back in the mid 80s.
Chazen Engineering. Did a lot of work for IBM.

I must have missed your post last fall. I've met Richard (Chazen), and also once worked off of Overocker Rd. Right past Sun WP&P and the railroad tracks (now the rail trail) is a small industrial park. Harris Semiconductor (now a school bus depot ?) was back there. In 1981 we were making 4k SRAMs for the just launched personal computer market!

I must be missing something here. Isn't this just a 2-3 minute ride over the bridge? It looks beautiful, but I'm hesitant to travel all the way up there from Long Island for such a short ride. Are there paths or good routes that connect to this bridge?

This page (http://www.roberts-1.com/bikehudson/r/r/mh_ww/index.htm)
describes one route that connects with the Walkway, and gives
links to 4 other longer routes that connect with the Walkway.

My opinions: (a) The Walkway really is special.
(b) If you're going to ride over the Walkway, then you might as well also ride the 4-mile loop described on that page - (except cyclists who can't handle riding on streets with motor vehicle traffic).

You could also connect the Walkway to one of the longer loops. Or you could just finish the little loop early (before there are so many walkers that it becomes difficult to ride across the Walkway. Then drive to somewhere else in Dutchess or Ulster counties for some other great ride -- with a different feel from Long Island -- which does not need to connect with the Walkway.

Ken

Good ideas, Ken. I will look into this. I sure am getting lazy as I get older. Ten years ago, I'd have gladly driven or trained all the way up there just to touch my wheels on the bridge and buy a commemorative sticker!

I must be missing something here. Isn't this just a 2-3 minute ride over the bridge? It looks beautiful, but I'm hesitant to travel all the way up there from Long Island for such a short ride. Are there paths or good routes that connect to this bridge?

Tom, the bridge itself plus feeders on both sides make it around 1.25 miles. So while you could do this at a full race clip in a few minutes, I think you'd be missing the point. This is something very special to savor. Having grown up in Massapequa, I assure you that you will come away impressed!

As Ken said, there is a loop that also takes you across the Mid Hudson Bridge, or use local roads to get to the open sections of either the Dutchess Rail Trail or the Hudson Valley Rail Trail. Or, use you car to get to the next public road loop, or one of the other rail trails (out of Amenia, Carmel, or New Paltz). It's worth the trip.

I think I will make this a road trip for the summer with my wife. I'm not a "full race clip" kind of guy in ANY sense, but when I ride with my wife, we're 100% "casual" riders. Offhand, do you know how far this is from the Wallkill Valley trail?

The Wallkill rail trail is the one out of New Paltz, which is about 10-11 miles from the Highland side of the Walkway (9w to Rt 299). From the Pok side add around 3 miles to drive over the Mid Hudson Bridge.

The Hudson Valley Rail Trail spans some of this gap between Highland and New Paltz, but you'll end up riding much of the Rt 299 stretch on the highway that parallels the abandoned railroad bed.

Having explored the web sites for the Hudson River Trail and the Dutchess County Trail, it appears they are both the types of trails my wife is not crazy about. She prefers trails that pass through lots of quaint little towns we would never discover in a car. I, too, have grown tired of the sameness of virtually all the rail trails I've ever ridden. Don't get me wrong, the Wallkill Trail is gorgeous, and the others seem to be, as well. But once you're sandwiched between 2-3 miles of trees, they all look and feel the same.

That said, we might not mind doing a little "highway" riding or exploring some towns off the beaten path as an excuse to ride the Walkway.

Thanks for the info!

Having explored the web sites for the Hudson River Trail and the Dutchess County Trail, it appears they are both the types of trails my wife is not crazy about. She prefers trails that pass through lots of quaint little towns we would never discover in a car.

You ought to try the Harlem Valley Rail Trail then. Unlike most rail trails, it's not hemmed in by trees and you get to see some wide vistas. Amenia and Millerton are pretty cool little towns too. I took photos just before the Autumn peak foliage season last year: http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f347/armchairaviator/Harlem%20Valley%20ride%20october09/ (the leaves would have looked even nicer had I gone a week later!)

>>>>You ought to try the Harlem Valley Rail Trail then.<<<

We were there for opening day, like a million years ago. It was smaller back then, and wwwwway too long a drive to be worth it. Now that I'm pretty much out of work and not racking up a few thousand airline miles every week to use toward vacations, perhaps this will be the summer to revisit some of these close-to-home destinations. Based on the sick weather patterns this year, I hope we don't have one of those chilly summers where New York's mountain regions are not unbearably cold after 2:00 in the afternoon!

I must have missed your post last fall. I've met Richard (Chazen), and also once worked off of Overocker Rd. Right past Sun WP&P and the railroad tracks (now the rail trail) is a small industrial park. Harris Semiconductor (now a school bus depot ?) was back there. In 1981 we were making 4k SRAMs for the just launched personal computer market!

Yup, we worked down there about the same time, I know I was there in 82.

This page (http://www.roberts-1.com/bikehudson/r/r/mh_ww/index.htm)
describes one route that connects with the Walkway, and gives
links to 4 other longer routes that connect with the Walkway.

My opinions: (a) The Walkway really is special.
(b) If you're going to ride over the Walkway, then you might as well also ride the 4-mile loop described on that page - (except cyclists who can't handle riding on streets with motor vehicle traffic).

You could also connect the Walkway to one of the longer loops. Or you could just finish the little loop early (before there are so many walkers that it becomes difficult to ride across the Walkway. Then drive to somewhere else in Dutchess or Ulster counties for some other great ride -- with a different feel from Long Island -- which does not need to connect with the Walkway.

Ken

Ken,
I just wanted to take this oppertunity to thank you for all the work you have done, collecting and documenting all these routes in the Hudson Valley. Super work!!

>>>Ken,
I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for all the work you have done, collecting and documenting all these routes in the Hudson Valley<<<

I'll second that.

Updating this thread rather than starting another one...

On Monday I was in Poughkeepsie on business, so I did the bridge on the Dahon folding bike that I keep in my wagon. It was a glorious ride! Trees are leafing out, and the picture is totally different from my last visit to the bridge in January when the single digit temps and ice flows on the river literally took my breath away.

And because of the bridge, a lot is changing. We now have a bicycle rental shop at the Pok side. They rent tandems, cruisers, kid trailers, adult trikes, etc. I told the guy I'd come to work for him as the shop wrench, as he admitted that fixing what breaks isn't his forte. He even asked me how a presta valve worked!

A local restaurant guy was doing surveys of bridge users. He is thinking of buying the old auction house across the street for a sitdown restaurant, and setting up outside dining at the bridge parking lot.

On the Highland side, they held groundbreaking ceremonies last weekend to complete the trail segment going from the bridge to the Hudson Valley Rail Trail in the village, that heads towards New Paltz. There is also a small snack bar running on the Highland side.

Downside? They want to begin charging $5-$10 per day to park in the lots at the trailheads!!! And still no word about securing the rights on the Pok side to join the bridge to the Dutchess rail trail a mile away near Dutchess Community College.

The Walkway was turned over to the state and is now an official NY State Park. Unfortunately, NY state is broke and the state parks are suffering....the $5 fee for parking was a state decision. You can park on the Highland side near Hannaford's and walk or ride over.

There was a recent lottery for food vendors and permits have been issued. There are food options at both ends now.

There is a bike rental on the Poughkeepsie side - basically balloon-tired beach cruisers and tandems. Bikes were new and look good.

Good progress on the trail on the west side of the Hudson - more mixed news on the east side. CSX still holds the immediate portion of the trail in Poughkeepsie and they have shown no inclination towards an accommodation. It will happen....eventually. They've started work on the third section of trail, a nearly seven-mile piece in LaGrange. They still have elevated road crossings to deal with at some point.

The connected trail system has the potential to be amazing if they can put it all together. (The ability to ride from Hopewell to New Paltz on a trail...spectacular.)

Also, we were at an event this past Saturday night to unveil the new Walkway lighting system. Eventually, the Walkway will be open some evenings. (Budget permitting.)

The annual members' meeting will be held this Sunday - will likely know more after that.

They've started work on the third section of trail, a nearly seven-mile piece in LaGrange. They still have elevated road crossings to deal with at some point.

Most of the road crossings are now marked with 'Road Construction' signs, and a number of the barriers have been moved. I even saw some equipment stationed near the Rt-376 crossing. They were too quick to pull down the stone viaduct at Manchester Bridge (Page Lumber), but at the time widening Rt 55 was the one and only priority. That is going to cost a pretty penny to replace.