Wallkill Valley Rail Trail
New Paltz, Ulster County, NY

Directions:

Take I-87 north to exit 87; take NY Route 299 into the New Paltz downtown area; park on the street near the New Paltz Passenger Station. You can go north or south from here on the trail.

History:

1866 -- Wallkill Valley Railroad Company formed.

1868  -- railroad construction starting north from Montgomery begins.

1872  -- the lines opens to Kingston, N.Y. 

1881  -- absorbed into the West Shore Railroad, it becomes a branch of the West Shore's "High Iron" rail line along the Hudson River.

1885  --  the West Shore Railroad is absorbed into the New York Central System (NYC).

1952  -- Conrail takes over.

1977  --  last train operates.

1983 -- the New Paltz Environmental Conservation Commission recommends the creation of a Wallkill Valley Rail-Trail. 

1991 --  the Wallkill Valley Rail-Trail Association forms.

The Wallkill Valley Rail Trail Association becomes part of the Hudson Valley River Greenway Trail System.

(Source: Della Penna & Sexton, 2002:chapter 21)

Trail:

The trail runs 15.2-miles, 8.16 miles from Gardiner to New Paltz and 7.02 miles from New Paltz to Rosendale.