Dutchess Rail Trail

The Dutchess Rail Trail is a rail trail that stretches from Poughkeepsie east and south to Hopewell Junction. It occupies the right-of-way of the former Central New England Railway's abandoned Maybrook Line.

Construction was initially set to begin in July 2007..

The Maybrook Line was double tracked, so segments of the rail trail have both a paved and packed dirt trail side by side, allowing for equestrian or running on a softer surface.

There is also an effort underway to get access to a 1 mile stretch of CSX rail, that if developed, would connect the Dutchess Rail Trail to the Walkway Over the Hudson and the Hudson Valley Rail Trail.

The railroad line was built in 1892 and was cut in half by a fire on the Poughkeepsie Bridge in 1974. Dutchess County originally purchased the Maybrook Line right of way to build a limited access highway to Interstate 84 but they didn't want to pay the monetary and environmental costs of connecting from Hopewell...
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