New rail trail opens in Woodridge

WOODRIDGE, NY — The Fallsburg O&W Rail Trail Committee held a ribbon-cutting and trail dedication on Sunday, August 30 in Woodridge. The ribbon-cutting took place at the Veteran’s Memorial Park on Roosevelt Avenue in downtown Woodridge, next to the gazebo and rail-trail sign.

A brief ceremony marked the official opening of a two-mile section of the former Ontario and Western Railroad right-of-way to the public as a recreational trail, and musician Paul Lounsbury performed an original song called “To the Mountains by Rail.”

The Woodridge trail is the third segment of the O&W rail-trail open to the public in the Town of Fallsburg. A 2.5-mile segment from Mountaindale to Woodridge, and a separate three-mile segment from Hurleyville to South Fallsburg have been open and actively used as recreational trails since the mid-1990s.

Opening of the Woodridge segment is the culmination of three years of hard work by volunteers who make up the Fallsburg O&W Rail Trail Committee, headed up by Mountaindale resident Allen Frishman. Overcoming several setbacks, volunteers cleared trees, widened the trail, removed debris, and replaced two culverts washed out by heavy rains to make the trail accessible.

In preparation for the official opening, volunteers with Woodridge Kiwanis and Woodridge Renaissance last year erected a gazebo and a sign with interpretive information, and brought in several truckloads of fill to create a trailhead lined by split-rail fencing. That project was funded through Sullivan Renaissance, earning the group a third-place prize in their category ($5,000).

For more information call 845/434-8811.