12.2 Miles of Park from New Paltz/Rossendale line to Gardiner
This is a really beautiful trail, which you can walk, bike or horse ride long. If going by bike I’d recommend either a hybrid or mountain bike as the trail can be a bit uneven and muddy in parts, so it is not suitable for a road bike. We drove from Woodstock to New Paltz (40 minutes) and then parked in the parking lot behind The Bicycle Depot on Main Street. Bike hire is $35 for a full day rental or $25 after 2PM. They don’t have kids bikes but if your kid is around 5ft tall then they will be ok with the smallest adult bike. Helmets are supplied. The bike store is situated about half way along the trail. If you’d prefer to start in Gardiner there is a bike hire place right on the trail. From the bike store we headed south on the trail towards Gardiner and passed through some beautiful countryside, orchards and wooded areas (great when it is hot). There was abundant wildlife along the way including: deer, chipmunks, rabbits, cows, butterflies, cardinals & dragonflies, as well as great views of the New Paltz Cliff. Riding is easy, it’s a very flat trail, just make sure you stop and check for cars when the trail crosses a road. We took a lunch break at Cafe Mio in Gardiner. Great food! And then continued to the end of the trail, about another 3 miles past Gardiner. It’s a very inauspicious end, just a barbed wire fence on the other side of the road. We turned around and rode back to New Paltz. The round trip was around 17 miles. The total trail length is 12.2 miles (24.4 miles return). The historic 940-foot-long Rosendale Railroad Trestle, has finally reopened after restoration (since June 30), so if you head north from New Paltz you’ll get to cross this!
