Shawangunk, Walden, and Wallkill Rail Trail is built on a railroad right-of-way that was abandoned by Conrail in the late 1970s. Conrail and its predecessors, Penn Central, New York Central, and The Wallkill Valley Railway, provided service to farmers along the route from Montgomery to Kingston by transporting their goods to wholesale markets in New York City.
This trail is currently quite rustic in nature. Although proposals have been made to pave the trail and extend it by another 1.5 miles into downtown Montgomery, many of the trail's equestrian users have voiced strong opposition.
Proponents of the trail extension and move to pavement feel that these initiatives would increase trail use by improving accessibility to families and the disabled and would create additional revenues for local merchants.
For now the trail remains unpaved and its trailheads far removed from the beaten path of busy downtown Montgomery. Its primary users are local horse owners and out-of-town mountain bikers.
Trail users may connect to the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail by taking an on-road route (Route 208 and Denniston Road) through Wallkill. This is necessary because a correctional facility has been erected on a portion of the former railroad right-of-way property in the Denniston Road area; this effectively split the two trail networks.
Major highways convenient to trailheads are the NY State Thruway, Interstate Route 84, and NY State routes 208, 52, and 17K.
The Village of Walden provides parking for rail-trail users at Wooster Grove Park on East Main St. (State Route 52).
excellent paved trail 2.8 miles connecting walden and wallkill. through forest and fields. a little uphill from wallkill to walden. best to start at wallkill and do round trip. entrance at walden is a little convoluted. hope its made longer soon.
I have been looking for trails to walk with my daughter and found this trail because it was close to her house. I read that the trail was still unpaved and was reluctant to walk it due to some physical problems. I mapped out where to park (via Google ...
What a nice, nice trail. Thanks to all who got this trail looking the way it does. It's appreciated.