- Where: north side of New Paltz, NY -- along the Wallkill
River in Ulster County.
- 15 miles. Mostly flat. Half on an unpaved "rail
trail" mostly off-road. The other half on roads.
Another option is to do it all on the rail trail, both out and
return -- about 14 miles
off-road.
Or for a longer route, combine this one with the New
Paltz South - Rail Trail route, for a total of 32 miles, mostly
flat.
see also:
- [ more routes around New
Paltz ]
- [ Map of
Gentler Places around New Paltz ] - [ other
Gentler Places ]
- [ other Shorter routes
]
- Highlights: riding on the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail,
an abandoned railroad bed which is unpaved but firm -- a quiet trail
mostly off-road. The rail trail has a special ending: a
bridge high above a creek with fine views. The road
used for the return has beautiful farms
and views of the Shawangunk ridge. Historic stone houses near
the start of the route -- and a variety of entertainments in New
Paltz.
- Characteristics -- rail trail: the railroad bed is unpaved but firm, and
mostly flat. Wider tires are recommended, say at least 1.25
inch. As long as conditions are dry, there is usually not much
need for a large tread pattern or "knobby" tires -- and
smoother tires will enable you to go faster and easier on the road
sections.
Two ways that an unpaved rail trail is different from a paved public car
road: (1) If it has rained recently, sections of the rail
trail could be soft and muddy -- which means that it may be difficult
to ride, and it would not be surprising if you ended up with lots of
mud sprayed off the wheels onto your clothing, and (2) Without regular
road maintenance, it can be more likely for various unexpected
obstacles to arise, which might call for getting off the bike and
walking for a section.
Traffic: The trail itself is off-road,
but it intersects with public roads or driveways at several points,
some with high-speed vehicle traffic -- so special care is required in
detecting, approaching, and crossing those.
Also, there can be non-motorized users on the
path: walkers, runners, skaters, bicyclists, etc -- sometimes
at high speeds, sometimes oblivious to other users, sometimes not following
rules or the directions of signs.
Need to take seriously the risk of interactions and collisions with
them.
- Characteristics -- roads: There is one
significant hill (80 vertical feet) at the start
of the road section, then a couple of gentle ones -- the rest of the roads are
close to flat. The section of Springtown Rd (Ulster County Route 7)
on the main route has little or no shoulders,
but often does not get a lot of car traffic. Unless you are
skilled and comfortable with handling significant traffic in that
kind of situation, we suggest avoiding that road at times of higher
traffic volume -- such as "rush" hours.
Variation B: Unless you are an experienced road
rider, we recommend not taking Variation B on the route direction
Cue Sheet. The segment of Ulster County Route 7 between Mountain Rest Rd and Route 299
often get significant motor vehicle traffic. The section on Route 299 at its south end between Ulster Count
Route 7 and Chestnut St / Route 32 definitely is a heavy traffic
area, and the Wallkill River bridge is not very wide, and Rt 299 has
little or no shoulder.
Map
of route | Cue Sheet | Trip Reports |
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County routes | Tourism
More . . .
By car from
South or North: NY Thruway to exit 18 (Poughkeepsie / New
Paltz). From the exit, turn Left onto Route 299 West, which is
Main St of the village of New Paltz.
By car from the East: Route 44 West
across the Mid-Hudson Bridge, then Route 9W North a couple of miles,
and take Route 299 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 Route 32.
GPS latitude-longitude = N41.7468,W74.0893 =
41.7468,-74.0893 [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.
- Maps for the rail trail and nearby roads are available in several
stores in New Paltz, and there is a basic map on the
Wallkill Valley Rail Trail
website. A county road map for Ulster County could be useful
-- but it probably will not show the rail trail (see Road
Maps).
Map
of route | Cue Sheet | Trip Reports |
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County routes | Tourism
and More . . .
- see
info + links on Wallkill Valley Rail Trail
- Concept: The nice thing about basing the route on a rail trail is that it
allows riders with little desire (or little capability) to handle the
complexities and risks of motorized traffic a way to tailor their route
to the degree of traffic-handling they feel comfortable with. If
you find you are
not yet skilled for or comfortable with riding a section on the road, you can return to the nearest
point where the rail trail crosses the road.
But before you try out riding on the roads on this route you need
to have sufficient skills and ability to assess the risks of road
riding. For more on this, see Risks
and Resources.
- Note -- about the Direction of Route: The route given
in the cue sheet switches back and forth
between roads and rail trail more than once. One reason for
this is to handle the biggest hill on the route, which is near the
"turn-around" at the North end. The idea of the
route given in the cue sheet is to avoid having to climb up the hill
on the road where there might be significant motor vehicle
traffic. So the direction of the route through that hill takes
the road section as a downhill, and saves the climb back up the hill
for the off-road rail trail.
Map
of route | Cue Sheet | Trip Reports |
more routes
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| More routes | Ulster
County routes | Tourism
|
