Wappinger Greenway Trail
Length:
5.0 miles
Difficulty:
Moderate
Time:
3.0 hours
Route type:
Circuit
Dogs:
Allowed on leash
Features:
Historic feature, Public Transportation
Park:
Wappinger Greenway Trail
GPS:
41.587491, -73.947215
Publication Date:
06/27/2013
Update/Verification Date:
06/22/2013
Author:
Daniel Chazin
Directions to trailhead
Take the New York State Thruway to Exit 17 and follow signs for I-84 East. After crossing the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, take Exit 11 and turn left onto NY 9D. Proceed for 5.3 miles and turn left onto New Hamburg Road. Continue for 1.2 miles and turn left onto Main Street, which leads to the Metro-North New Hamburg station. Park in the station parking lot (free parking on weekends; $3.25 on weekdays).
Train Directions
Take the Metro-North Hudson Line to the New Hamburg station.
Hike Description
From the station, proceed uphill on Main Street and make the first right onto New Hamburg Road. Just beyond the mailboxes for 29/31, turn left onto a dirt road and go around a locked gate, with a white Wappinger Greenway logo blaze. Soon, you'll come to the 200-year-old Reese Sanctuary Cemetery. Bear right and proceed around this historic cemetery. Towards the end of the cemetery, just before an old stone wall, a short side trail on the right leads to a panoramic viewpoint over the Hudson River, with a bench placed in memory of Franny Reese.
The trail goes through a gap in the stone wall and continues on a footpath high above Wappinger Creek, below on the right. Soon, it descends to a ravine, climbs a little and continues to parallel the creek, visible on the right through the trees. The trail follows undulating terrain, with some fairly steep ups and downs into and out of ravines that have been carved by water flowing into the creek. Watch for a double blaze that marks a sharp right turn just beyond another ravine. After descending rather steeply, you'll cross a white plastic bridge at the base of yet another ravine.
After running along the level of the creek for a while, the trail passes an viewpoint over a wide section of the creek. The trail then begins a gradual climb on switchbacks, entering property of Scenic Hudson. It continues on a relatively level footpath high above the creek. After a while, you can see buildings of the Market Street Industrial Park along the creek below. Here, the trail bears left, and it soon reaches a T-intersection, where you should turn left. The trail now descends gradually and soon reaches paved Channingville Road (there is a kiosk with a trail map just before the road crossing).
Cross the road and bear left at the fork. You are now entering Bowdoin Park, and the trail you will be following is marked with purple paint blazes, rather than with the white Wappinger Trailway logo blazes. At first, the gravel-surfaced trail parallels Channingville Road. It bears right, away from the road, then bears right again and begins to parallel Sheafe Road, crossing several woods roads along the way. The last part of the trail is covered with wood chips. When you reach a T-intersection with a grassy woods road, turn left and almost immediately reach paved Sheafe Road. Cross the road and continue along the paved road that leads into the developed section of Bowdoin Park.
Just after passing a small building on the right, you'll notice a crosswalk painted across the road. Turn left here and follow a wood-chip path downhill. Soon, you'll come to a T-intersection with a woods road. Turn left and follow the road as it climbs and begins to run above a steep ravine. In a short distance, you'll reach a junction with a bench on the left and a triple-yellow blaze on a tree to the right. Bear right, leaving the woods road, and continue on the yellow-blazed footpath.
The yellow trail meanders through a wild and scenic portion of Bowdoin Park, passing some interesting rock outcrops. Soon, a side trail on the right leads to a rock outcrop with a panoramic view over the Hudson River. You'll pass several trail junctions along the way; in each case, bear right, continuing to follow the yellow blazes.
The yellow trail ends at a woods road near the shore of the Hudson River. Just ahead is a bay (created when the railroad filled in its right-of-way), with the Metro-North railroad tracks beyond. Turn left and follow the road steeply uphill. Near the top of the climb, at a large Wappinger Greenway blaze, turn right onto a side trail blazed with the white logo Wappinger Greenway blazes. The trail climbs stone steps and leads out to a firehouse. Follow the driveway out to Channingville Road and turn right, then follow the road downhill to its end at the New Hamburg station, where the hike began (along the way, the name of the road changes to Main Street).