Spectacular New Eight-Mile Section

It’s an exciting time for the Harlem Valley Rail Trail. In these unusual times, when other leisure time options have been curtailed, use of the rail trail has been soaring. And, we have finally been able to treat long-time and new visitors to a spectacular new eight-mile section between Millerton and Boston Corners.  

Thanks to the work on that new section, overseen by Dutchess County, the trail features stunning views of the Taconic Hills, vistas of rolling fields and farmland and a long passage that runs right beside a bucolic pond. Moreover, this section features a number of elevated boardwalk sections to mitigate harm to wetlands.

On Thursday, April 22, 2021, County Executive Marc Molinaro, joined by local officials and rail trail enthusiasts, celebrated the completion of the fourth phase of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail with a ceremonial ribbon cutting at the trailhead at the Village Green in Millerton.

The next big project for the rail trail is to close the second gap: the missing section between Orphan Farm Road in Copake and the 1.5 mile trail between Black Grocery Road and the hamlet of Hillsdale. Here we have big news as well. Thanks to the generosity of donors, we have matched the $238,500 state grant needed for this work, which includes a new 1.25 mile asphalt trail and a bridge across Route 22.

If things go as we hope, the New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation will request bids for this job over the coming months and it is conceivable that construction could be completed in 2022.

Yet there’s more! Design work is under way for an outdoor environmental and history exhibition on a trail bridge just north of downtown Millerton. A state grant of $100,000 will fund this work, though it still requires the association to  raise the matching amount of $100,000. When completed, this “education bridge” will bring a new dimension to users of the rail trail.