17. Woodland Valley State Campground to Phoenicia

Feature: Road Walking
Distance: 5.75 miles
USGS Map Quad: Phoenicia
Trail Conference Maps: Trail Map 143, Southern Catskill Trails, Trail Map 142,
Central Catskill Trails, and Trail Map 141, Northeastern Catskill Trails

General Description

Long Path follows paved roads in this section. The trail runs along Woodland
Creek much of the way through a narrow, mountainous corridor. After Woodland
Creek intersects Esopus Creek, the trail continues east along Esopus Creek,
and crosses the Esopus into the Village of Phoenicia.

Access

Take the New York State Thruway to Exit 19 (Kingston). Follow NY Route
28 west for 23 miles to Phoenicia. Turn right at the second turn to Phoenicia
(Bridge Street). Follow Bridge Street to just before the railroad tracks, and
turn left onto High Street. Follow High Street and then Woodland Valley
Road 5.5 miles to the Woodland Valley State Campground.

Parking

0.00 Woodland Valley State Campground (parking fee charged in season).
(18T 553205E 4653970N)
5.75 Village of Phoenicia (parking available on Main Street or behind the
Phoenicia Pharmacy on NY Route 214). (18T 556830E 4659268N)

Camping

0.00 Woodland Valley State Campground (fee charged).

Trail Description

0.00 From the Woodland Valley State Campground, proceed eastward on
Woodland Valley Road.
1.30 Pass an old swinging suspension bridge to the right. This was the original
route of the Wittenberg-Cornell-Slide Trail (and Long Path) over Terrace
Mountain, but was abandoned some years ago when the private landowner
along the creek closed the trail.
2.10 Pass Fawn Hill on the left.
3.85 Cross Panther Kill.
4.20 Cross Woodland Creek.
4.60 Herdman Road comes in from the left. Continue straight ahead.
4.70 To the left, an old bridge, now closed to vehicular traffic, crosses Esopus
Creek. The Long Path continues ahead on High Street, which runs parallel to
Esopus Creek. It crosses under NY Route 28 and intersects Bridge Street.
5.60 The Long Path turns left on Bridge Street, crosses the railroad tracks and
then Esopus Creek, and enters Phoenicia. The railroad tracks, formerly the
route of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad, are now operated by a local tourist
short-line, the Catskill Mountain Railroad. The Ulster and Delaware once
brought trainloads of tourists to this portion of the Catskills. Today, the Catskill
Mountain Railroad ferries tubers from Mt. Pleasant to Phoenicia.
5.75 Reach Main Street in Phoenicia (Ulster County Route 40). To the left is
the center of Phoenicia. While just two blocks long, it is well worth the detour.
It is the home of several restaurants and a number of antique shops. There is
also a grocery and a general store here for backpackers to resupply. To continue
on the Long Path, turn right and proceed eastward on Main Street (Ulster
County Route 40).

Comments

Bridge Street

On March 31st, 2012 Epimethius says:

Apparently the Bridge over Espous Creek has been damaged to the point where it is closed.  I decided to do the roadwalk from Woodland Valley to the DEC Parking lot Ulster Rt. 40 on 3/19/12 as a warmup for future long path sections this year.  The majority of the bridge is still standing, but it appears as though Irene made her impact there last fall.  The easiest way around this closure without adding too much mileage is to turn right on Bridge Street instead of left when you see the bridge and head on up the hill to NY Rt. 28.  Turn right on Rt. 28 and cross the Espous on 28 instead.  The only trick is that the shoulders on the bridge are very tight and Rt. 28 is a 55MPH highway so cars are zooming by very fast, so I would exhibt extreme caution and alertness in taking this route.  On the other side of the bridge about 100 yards later you can turn right onto Rt. 214 (Main Street) and take that road until where you will connect back up with the trail after you walk through town.  The Bridge that is closed on Bridge Street looks like a pretty good sized bridge and it may take a while for them to fix it (if they do at all because it looks like it caters mostly to local traffic and the Long Path).  Just thought I would post about this since I hadn't seen any updates that had mentioned it as of yet.