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Exploring the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, Hudson Valley New York

A few years back, we accidentally discovered the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail while wandering around the Hudson. Ever since, we've been itching to go back and stroll along it like professional wanderers. So, we roped in our friends, Pete & Liz, and set off on our epic walking adventure!


This was number 23 of our 40 for 40, and while it's a few years back (yes, still trying to catch up... maybe someday!), and we loved it so much.


🎥 Watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/wtGvcKC7XUI?si=WkngZZd-xFLkNRrF


Don’t forget to subscribe for more travel adventures: https://www.youtube.com/@OurOwnPath 



WALKING THE WALLKILL VALLEY RAIL TRAIL

Day 1: Bike to the ferry, hop in a car in NJ, Walk from New Paltz to Rosendale

Rick and I first had to hop on our Citi Bikes in Midtown to pedal our way down to the ferry, heading into New Jersey to rendezvous with our friends. Luckily, we have a friend with a car (a mythical creature in our circle), so we all squeezed into Liz's car and zoomed up the Hudson River Valley. We landed in Rosendale, where the phenomenal hotel we crashed at is now closed (but has been reincarnated as another now), and we ditched our car there and snagged an Uber to New Paltz to kick off our walk for the day. Naturally, we needed fuel first! So a pit stop at Clemson Brothers Brewery for lunch and a few beers was in order, and then we embarked on our trek.


The Wallkill Valley Rail Trail is a breeze on this path. There were bike riders and horseback riders galloping about. But even with all that action, we hardly saw another soul. It was a stunning fall day, and the trees were putting on quite the show. The company was top-notch, and the weather was delightful! We paused to snap a zillion photos of the bridge from the movie A Quiet Place, obviously. And we couldn't resist stopping for some warm whiskey cocktails at the Coppersea Distillery (conveniently right off the path) and enjoyed the firepit for an hour before wrapping up our walk to Rosendale.


Day 2: Slow morning and relaxing horseback ride

The next morning, Rick and I ventured up to the Trestle Bridge, and it was breathtaking (if a bit nippy) before the whole gang went for breakfast at Hash in Stone Ridge, making the obligatory stop for some apple cider and apple cider doughnuts (it's a law when you're here in autumn), and then we decided one epic day of walking was enough and switched gears to horseback riding at Ridge Runner Ranch. A lovely and relaxing few hours' simple ride.


Where We Stayed

We bunked down in Rosendale, but the hotel we stayed at has since played a game of musical chairs and popped back up as a different hotel. As for pit stops, Rosendale is a top-notch spot to crash for the night. I can't spill the beans on the new digs just yet, but fingers crossed, I'll get the scoop soon!


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Important Links and additional information:

Wallkill Valley Rail Trail https://wallkillvalleylt.org

Clemson Bros. Brewery https://www.clemsonbrewing.com

Coppersea Distillery https://coppersea.com

Hash (Stone Ridge) https://www.hashfoodny.com

Ridge Runner Ranch https://ridgerunnerranch.com


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Originally from Iowa (Kassie) and Kansas (Rick), we met in Kansas in 2005 and immediately found that we had so much in common - including our desire to someday see the world. We now live in NYC and quickly started catching up on travel after our first (just us) international trip to Iceland in 2015. We decided to start making videos for us and our family/friends to track our travels. Kassie is in Marketing, an Author (see her poetry + author videos), and Puppet Creator. Rick is an Engineer and Script Writer (see our current and coming puppet movies!)


Kassie's Author Site: https://www.kassiejrunyan.com/


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