The
Walkway Over the Hudson Historic State Park is a pedestrian bridge over the Hudson River that links Poughkeepsie and Highland, New York. The bridge was built in the late 1800s for train traffic and was ruined by a fire in 1974. It was refurbished and opened in 2009 as a pedestrian/cyclist bridge. The walkway reaches 212 feet above the Hudson River and is 6,768 feet long (or 1.28 miles), making it the longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world.
|
Starting from the Poughkeepsie side |
A map on the bridge shows the various areas nearby, including the neighborhoods and sights of Poughkeepsie, various biking trails, and a 4.2 mile loop trail across the Walkway and the Mid-Hudson Bridge, the bridge for car traffic just south of the Walkway.
|
With the kids in tow, we did not make the 4 mile loop |
A good portion of the bridge is over the town, giving pedestrians a nice view.
|
Homes |
|
View to the Mid-Hudson Bridge |
|
Poughkeepsie waterfront |
The bridge has several signs on it about the history, use, construction, and reconstruction of the bridge.
|
Showing the support structure |
|
Building the bridge |
The center of the bridge is the location of
Virtual Reward: Walkway Over the Hudson, a virtual geocache that requires a picture as proof of being there rather than a signature in a log book.
|
Me, the bridge, the river |
I could have taken my photo from the other side of the bridge with the Mid-Hudson in the background.
|
The less pedestrian-friendly bridge |
|
Mid-bridge view of the south end of Poughkeepsie |
|
Mid-bridge view of the north end of Poughkeepsie |
We saw the rail lines running along the side of the river and were surprised to see a small waterfall that seems to go underneath.
|
Waterfall and trains |
|
House with a spare house in the backyard |
The bridge does have some amenities, including a plaza with a gift shop, at which we did not shop.
|
East Gate Plaza |
We also saw a work of art that was...interesting?
|
"DNA Totem" |
The kids weren't too enthusiastic about crossing the bridge but we adults appreciated the chance to do something unusual and to get a little exercise as we traveled.
No comments:
Post a Comment