By dlock1417 on December 10, 2008
I qm new to the trqil to rqil qnd the Hudson Valley Rail-Trail.
However i had the plesure of visiting the Catskills and got
informatiom about biking in the area.
what i did see it was very beautiful.
By mike buck on October 30, 2007
"I took 3 Cub Scouts on the trail early September 2007. Nice trail, wide with great rock outcroppings and interesting leftover RR relics. The nature area was a nice place to take a rest and look around. Too short though, we rode it 4 times just to get a decent ride in. The kids loved the Caboose. If ever extended to the river near the bridge it would be a great trail."
By Mr. Ed on December 24, 2006
"We rode the trail on a dreary day in November.
The entire trail is 2.6 miles long with 2.4 of those miles paved and the remaining rideable on a hybrid bike.
The trail starts at Tony Williams Park (N41.73655 W74.00131 approximatley 372' ASL) and heads east. Along the trail there are a pair of old railroad signal stands, one with a signal still on it. Downhill on either side of the trail can be seen the old alignment of this rail line.
Farther along is what appears to be the main parking area on New Paltz Rd. (N41.73405 W73.97502 332'). Right near this parking area is an abandoned rail car. This car can be seen from New Paltz Rd. but not from the trail.
At this point the trail turns south and continues to the ""Fitness Trail"" portion before the paved trail ended at N41.72052 W73.96917 306'. The Fitness Trail portion has a very wide grass shoulder adjacent to the paved trail and places where people younger and sknnier than me can exercise on simple equipment and benches.
The unpaved trail continues south and ends at Vinyard Avenue (N41.71744 W73.96830 298') where there used to be a bridge over the road. According to http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/TLyd_railtrail-08Nov06.html the trail will be extended east in the future. http://www.hvnet.com/features/highlandrailtrail.htm shows a parking area at this end but we didn't see it, probably because we were'nt looking for it. Next time we'll search it out, that way the return trip will be downhill all the way."