On a clear summer day, driving back to West Windsor from a bicycling weekend in New York State and Vermont, we took a break to stretch our legs along the Walkway Over the Hudson. What a treat! The walkway offers excellent views north and south along the Hudson, across to Poughkeepsie, down to the trains traveling along the riverbanks and to boats along the river. Lots of people use the walkway for exercise and sun, though there aren’t yet any benches along the span.
Twenty years after a 1974 fire ruined the tracks of the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge, built in 1888, Poughkeepsie’s Bill Sepe began advocating to convert the rail bridge to a pedestrian and bicycle trail. The dream became a reality when the walkway opened in October 2009, celebrating the ?400th anniversary of the voyage of Henry Hudson in his ship, the Half Moon, from New York harbor to the site of Albany, NY.
People of all ages and abilities use the walkway, and it’s is a terrific asset for area?residents or workers, who can stroll/jog/bike across and back before or after work or at lunch. Developers might not have thought there would be many people coming from the Highland side, since there were only about a dozen metered (2-hour limit) parking spaces, though we and others parked on the road without fees. As we approached Highland from the Thruway, there were a few signs for the Hudson Valley Rail Trail, which will eventually connect the Walkway Over the Hudson to the trail systems in the Shawangunks and the Catskills.
Warnings on the walkway Web site note that the temperature of the concrete can be up to 20 degrees hotter than the air, so people are advised to carry water, especially for pets, and to be careful of the dogs’ paws on the hot surface.
To learn more, go to
Walkway Over the Hudson Park Web site and?Rails-toTrails Conservancy article.
