Rosendale/ Ulster Extension of Wallkill Valley Rail Trail

Rail Road Trestle in Rosendale in need of restoration

August 2009

In an exciting new partnership, Wallkill Valley Land Trust and Open Space Conservatory acquired 11.5 miles (65 acres) of the former Wallkill Valley Railroad in Ulster County.  This acquisition has almost doubled the length of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail which occupies the former railroad bed. The highlight of this purchase is the iconic 940-foot-long Rosendale Railroad Trestle, perched 150 feet over the Rondout Creek in Rosendale, originally constructed in 1895.  The trestle, which is now closed to the public, is the most spectacular portions of the scenic rail trail.  

This expansion now means that additional hamlets along the Wallkill River Valley will be connected to one another and trail users can take the scenic route to get to them as they pass by woodlands, open fields, and farmlands lands. Residents and tourist alike can bike, walk, run, bird watch, horseback ride and cross country ski while they discover a wide variety of birds, other wildlife and the panoramically beautiful views of the Shawangunk Ridge and the Wallkill River.

The project will involve repairing the 114 year old bridge's steel infrastructure, installing wooden decks and railings, and regrading and widening the rest of the newly acquired Rail Trail. Once completed, the new rail trail will allow upstate New Yorkers and the general public to view the Shawangunk Ridge, the Binnewater Lakes region with its historic cement mines, and the hamlet of Rosendale from a lofty perch -- 150 feet in the air.

This linear park will benefit Mid-Hudson Valley residents in many ways.  It will fill in the most important "missing link" in one of the best networks of rail trails in the Hudson River Valley, and will encourage new economic development in the town of Rosendale. 

In short, the restored Rosendale/ Ulster extension of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail will be a recreational and cultural resource that will provide users with an unparalleled recreational experience.

Some History of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail in Rosendale:

At the end of the Civil War trains were already running through a good portion of New York State.  Especially, along the east side of the Hudson River from Orange County and points south.  But in Ulster County, farmers were shipping their produce by horse and wagon to river ports along the Hudson River that would transit their produce down river on a barge to New York City. 

Promoters of a railroad through the Wallkill Valley area stressed that a railroad would open the area to the world and stimulate the agricultural market.  Floyd McKinstry, the first president of the Wallkill Valley Railway,  espoused that the railroad would make the valley a "perfect garden".

In 1866, after much debate, the Wallkill Valley Railway Company was formed and built a railroad from Montgomery to New Paltz.  The WVRC railroad route included the towns of Montgomery, Shawangunk, Gardiner, New Paltz, Kingston and Rosendale.

In 1868 construction of the WVRR began.  The most sensational part of this construction was the building of the high bridge in Rosendale.  From 1870 to 1872, one hundred men labored to build the 9 iron spans of the bridge.  When completed, the bridge stood majestically over the Roundout at 150 feet in high and 988 feet long.