• where:  around New Paltz and Wallkill -- in the Wallkill River valley in Ulster County, NY.

• 35 miles.  Gentle-to-moderate hills (1400 vertical feet, hill index 2.2). 

30 miles for the New Paltz South - Rail Trail (Wallkill - Horse Farm variation), which goes to some of the same places, but on quieter roads, including 9 miles on an unpaved off-road trail.  But it misses out on some nice farms and views, and some fun road sections.

42 miles for Farms and Orchards around New Paltz, taking the East of the Wallkill start variation.

See a comparison with other routes in the area.

• highlights:  Beautiful farms and orchards, with a big horse farm.  Sweeping views across the Wallkill Valley, and of the Shawangunk ridge beyond.

• mapping: digital mapping + GPS reources . . .

created by mbergen21:  GPS-capable route map on MapMyRide . . . (not checked by us)

 + ? routeID [bhvw9a] - [bhvw9b] : (no public digital mapping / GPS linked to these routeIDs)

 + (non-digital)  overview map

• characteristics:  Lots of gentle miles, and some moderate hills

Hilliness:  Total vertical climbing is about 1400 vertical feet.  Several hills over 4% grade, but none over 6%.  Biggest climb is 190 vertical feet at a 3% average grade. 

Traffic:  Some  high-speed traffic sections, but many quiet roads.  Some of the other roads which are not really quiet are not that wide and or do not have shoulders (like some sections of Ulster County Route 7) -- see Traffic Discussion for more detail.  If you are not experienced and comfortable with handling that sort of traffic situation, you should consider choosing a different route.

A route that visits some of the same places, but mostly has much less traffic interaction, is New Paltz South - Rail Trail and Roads (Wallkill - Horse Farm variation).

check [ Road Condition reports | Trip Reports | Traffic ] 

• warning:  Riding a bicycle on roads has dangers and risks that need to be taken seriously.  For more on those, see our page on risks.

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more . . . 

• directions to Start: 

by car from South or North:  NY Thruway to exit 18 (Poughkeepsie / New Paltz).  From the exit, turn Left onto Rt 299 West, which is Main St of the village of New Paltz.

by car from the East:  Rt 44 West across the Mid-Hudson Bridge, then Rt 9W North a couple of miles, and take Rt 299 West to New Paltz.

The start of the route is just after Main St (Rt 299) crosses Rt 32 (Chestnut St) at a traffic light -- between the Wallkill River bridge and Rt 32.

GPS latitude-longitude = N41.7466,W74.0900 = 41.7466,-74.0900  [on Google Maps]

Parking:  There are lots of options in New Paltz.  What usually works for us is to park about three or four blocks from the Wallkill River bridge, somewhere north of Main St.  Then ride west on Front St / Lenape Lane and/or south on Huguenot St to reach the starting point.

by train:  New Paltz is 11 to 12 miles from the Poughkeepsie train station, with service by Metro North from New York City, and by Amtrak.  For ideas about riding a bicycle from there, see Connecting between Poughkeepsie trains and New Paltz.

Other starting points:  Wallkill.

• map:  You should have a detailed (paper) road map of Ulster County to do this route (see Maps).  See also: digital mapping resources + GPS.
   

Cue Sheet | Map | Trip Reports | Traffic | more routes

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