area trailways and bike paths

Walkway OTH

EAST SIDE OF THE HUDSON

Poughkeepsie

Dutchess rail trail

Harlem Valley rail trail

Hyde Park Trails

Putnam County Trailways

Klara Sauer Trail

WEST SIDE OF THE HUDSON

Highland

Walkway Loop Trail

Wallkill Valey rail trail

Hudson Valley rail trail

Nyack

CITY and TOWN of POUGHKEEPSIE
bike paths and routes

C.O.P. - Wilbur Ave. path – notes

City and Town local route – this signed local route, on city streets, utilizes a short path that leads into the US rt. 9 north-bound sidewalk – this route provides a route to the services on US rt. 9

WALKWAY OVER THE HUDSON

^{WOTH state park sign on US route 9W in the village of Highland}

my blog reports

Poughkeepsie RR station to Walkway OTH route

DUTCHESS RAIL TRAIL

There is now an 8 1/2 mile long contiguous trail from a bit beyond the old depot (under restoration) in Hopewell Jct.,town of East Fishkill,to Manchester Rd. in the town of Poughkeepsie. (old rt. 55 behind Page lumber) The rail trail now includes educational interpretive signs,directional-mileage signs at intersections and engraved wood mileage markers.There is parking,trail access,and a Kiosk at Diddell Rd. in the town of Wappingers.

note:housing development construction activity near south end of phase 1 K.E.N. 04/17/11

This rail trail is paved - note: the original section of the rail trail (Walton Lk. East Fishkill - opened in 2007) is only paved on one side - the other side is a soft surface for Equestrian use - Phase 2 - a 2.4 mi. section from the northern trailhead / terminus - Morgan Lake, in the City of Poughkeepsie to Overocker Rd., in the town of Poughkeepsie (opened in 2009) - shall remain an isolated section of the rail trail until phase 4,the section in the town of Poughkeepsie from Old Manchester Rd. to the south end of phase 2,is completed - this phase of rail trail construction will require a new RT overpass bridge for SR 55 – and so this RT will still be considered “under construction”

maps:
note: all maps are PDF documents
official DC rail trail map - phase II - front and back
NOTE:copies of this map available at Overocker Road parking area (in wood map holder that looks like bird feeder)

UN-official annotated phase II map

the below are the planning meeting maps from 2006:
northern terminus - City and town of Poughkeepsie

town of Poughkeepsie

town of Lagrange north (SR 55 area)

town of Lagrange south

town of Wappingers

southern terminus - Hopewell Jct. (town of East Fishkill)

HARLEM VALLEY RAIL TRAIL

This rail trail is paved - technically the trail is under construction but the 11 mile section in Dutchess County from Wasaaic to Milerton is open – there are plans for, and/or ongoing construction of, a section from Millerton extending into Columbia County to connect with an existing section in that county – when fully completed this rail-trail will be 22 miles in length

HYDE PARK TRAILS

^{Roosevelt Farm Lane - part of the main trail}

The Roosevelt Farm Lane road-trail is part of the longer main trail, of the Hyde Park trails system,emblazoned with a distinctive Tulip leaf marker. The road-trail surface is mostly hard packed fine gravel. One could easily ride this with a road touring or "hybrid" bicycle equiped with 700 X 35c tires. The main road-trail is the only trail that bicycles are allowed. Bicycles are not allowed on the side hiking-only trails.There are motor-vehicle-road-like signs on the Farm Lane trail, at ATB height.

KLARA SAUER TRAIL

Beacon, Dutchess county this rail and trail is un-paved this 1 mile multi use trail,which follows along a section of the MNRR Beacon-Danbury branch line and a section of the Hudson line, was previously known as the Beacon Riverside Trail - the trail was re-named, and dedicated to, Klara Sauer in June of 2009

HIGHLAND
trailways and paths

HUDSON VALLEY RAIL TRAIL

Ulster County Town of Lloyd -this rail-trail is paved - 3.6 miles – the new section of this paved rail trail is now open - the rail trail now goes from the west end of the Walkway OTH (0.0 mi.) to the Tony Williams park in the town of Lloyd.(3.6 mi.) There is a parking lot on Haviland Rd. at the eastern trailhead.There is an old caboose (that used to be on the Walkway) and an information kiosk here. At Commercial Ave., in the village of Highland there is access to the RT and a small parking lot.(1.1 mi.) At 2.2 miles there is a pavilion / shelter another old RR caboose with RR themed art in the windows, and parking lot.The bathrooms in the Tony Williams town park,at the western terminus, are only open seasonly (during softball season)

un-official annotated map

There is a path / sidewalk along the NB side of US rt 9W at the intersection of US rt 9W and Haviland Rd. (ACR) this was part of the US rt 9W renovations in this section a few years ago that provides access to the shopping center– the northern most section at Haviland Rd. is concrete and extends to the FDR Mid Hudson bridge (US rt 44 / SR 55) exit to 9W north – there is ped crossing marking on the roadway –
USE CAUTION WHEN CROSSING the path from here is asphalt and continues along the NB side of the highway and crosses the entrance to the bridge USE CAUTION WHEN CROSSING and exits onto a side road

SCENIC HUDSON FRANNY REESE STATE PARK – this unique area is part nature preserve and part historical site – within this park there are the ruins of an abandoned village which include the remains of an old windmill – the old roads make for good mountain bike trails, however some of the trails in this preserve are primarily hiking trails – see my blog for more info

trails map

OFFICIAL WALKWAY LOOP TRAIL map

un-official annotated reality map

The so called trail is actualy a route on city streets to the MH bridge from the Walkway OTH.At the west end of the MH bridge the route goes through Johnson Iorio Memorial park out onto Haviland Rd. (FYI: no sidewalk) to the west entrance of the Walkway OTH. At the west end of the MH bridge,in the park,there are stairs leading down.These go to a road-trail leading into the Franny Reese Preserve state park.

WALLKILL VALLEY RAIL TRAIL

Ulster County -this rail-trail is unpaved - as per the Hudson Valley Bikeways & Trailways guide book (second ed.) there is supposedly a 15 mi. north section open from Rosendale to Kingston – I can tell you for a fact the rail-trail proper northern terminus is at the middle of the RR trestle in the village of Rosendale – beyond this there is only RR ties on the bridge and a “hole-in-the-woods” beyond this point with possibly, at best, a single track mountain bike path – the ROW is undeveloped – the above guide book also indicates the south section that is open is 12.2 mi., but I think from Gardiner, at the south end, all the way to the village of Rosendale, to the middle of the trestle at the north end, it is more like 15 mi.

I understand that the old RR trestle in Rosendale may be closed due to unsafe conditions. When I was there in April (2009) the bridge was still open. However I did notice that a section of the dirt/gravel parking lot had washed away. With all the rain in this area during the late spring-early summer, there must have been quite a bit more erosion. In addition the wood deck on the bridge had some boards that were warped and there were nails sticking up.
K.E.N. 09-26-09

Putnam County Trailways

Putnam Trailway This rail trail is paved - about half of this 12 mile total rail trail along the old Putnam line ROW is complete - a section is curently as of 08-2010 under construction and another section in the village of Brewster is under design

map and brochure (PDF from my site)

hikers and bikers historical guide to the Putnam division RR
(PDF from my site)

Nyack area Trailways

^{Nyack Beach SP Greenway Trail}