Poughkeepsie NY: Walkway Over the Hudson (September 2015)

My spouse and I visited the Walkway Over the Hudson on a Sunday morning in late September 2015. Officially, this state park is open from 7:00 am to sunset, although we did not notice any gates that would bar entrance at other hours. The handicapped elevator operates within those official opening hours but not to their full extent (check the website). The Walkway opened in October of 2009 (after a 16-month renovation), although the bridge itself was first opened/used in 1889.

We thoroughly investigated the website for the Walkway prior to our visit because we wanted to explore the provisions for mobility-challenged. Even though we entered the address for the area of the bridge with elevator access, when we drove there, we could see neither a parking lot nor the elevator itself. Only partially handicapped at the time, we were able to park in one of the regular public lots for the bridge and walk half its length (to just past the elevator). Parking was a little difficult on the day that we visited because a charity walk was set to begin about one hour after we arrived. Some limited street parking is also available. Permanent port-o-potty restrooms are available near the parking lot, which are handicap-accessible. (There were additional truly portable restroom facilities on the day that we visited, but we think that they were just set up for the walking event.)

The bridge is 24 feet wide, which accommodates many walkers at a time (also joggers, families with strollers, people with pets, bicyclists, etc). If you choose to walk from one side of the bridge to the other (Poughkeepsie to Highland), the walk totals 1.28 miles long miles (one-way) over the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge. At a height of 212 feet tall, it is the longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world. We read that some people choose to walk the bridge in a loop – they walk over the Walkway Over the Hudson on the outbound, and then hike down and return to Poughkeepsie via the (Franklin D. Roosevelt) Mid-Hudson Bridge (or vice versa) so that they can enjoy even more scenery. Guided tours and a mobile tour app are available if you require more information, although placards with photos and accompanying text are placed are various intervals on the bridge that explain more about it.

We enjoyed our visit and would return at different times of the year to enjoy the changing scenery. We recommend talking a walk on the Walkway Over the Hudson, but we suggest getting there early in the day so that it is less crowded.