I asked my Binghamton, NY friend to suggest an area for us to visit for a few days. She would have a change of scenery and we could both visit some place new to us. She read about the “Walkway Over the Hudson” so we decided to visit the Hudson River Valley which is miles north of New York City.
The “Walkway Over the Hudson” is a pedestrian, steel, 1.28 mile cantilevered bridge, 212 feet above the Hudson River. Visitors … walkers, bicyclists, joggers … can access it from Poughkeepsie, NY on the east or Highland, NY on the west side of the river. It is the longest, elevated pedestrian bridge in the world and the connector for what is an 18 mile rail trail connecting both sides of the river. We walked the bridge from both ends on 2 beautiful sunny days. Many people were also enjoying their time on the bridge, looking out on the landscape and the nearby Mid-Hudson Bridge for cars, etc.
Along the bridge are interpretative signs explaining the local area’s rail history as this once was a major rail corridor. The bridge was abandoned after a 1974 fire, but fortunately with many partnerships involving public, governmental and private entities provided funding for the bridge renovation it opened as a State Historic Park in October 2009. All across our country abandoned rail corridors are more often used for trails … interested in knowing more? Check out https://www.railstotrails.org
A couple of things I noticed: not a piece of litter was seen anywhere on the bridge, people, for the most part, walked the side lanes while bicyclists rode the middle lanes, bells are required on bicycles, a mental health telephone is on the bridge … maybe the result of a young person who jumped to his death in April 2021 … and there were many people enjoying the outdoor space each day we were there. Apparently 600,000 people will walk the bridge within the year! We had two beautiful sunny days and after the last couple of weeks of cold and rain I was a happy person, plus I was with my best NY friend!
