While we were all busy doing other things, like celebrating the holidays and wondering whether Joe Biden’s election would be certified by Congress, the long-vaunted 750-mile Empire State Trail – Andrew Cuomo’s pet statewide tourism development project – was finally completed. On December 30, the governor’s office announced that the trail in its entirety would officially open the following day. And the final piece of the puzzle to drop into place seems to have been a tiny segment of freshly woodchipped pathway that enables visitors to park at Kingston Point Beach and cut directly across to North Street to access a new trail along the Hudson, rather than having to double back around via Delaware Avenue. Kingston mayor Steve Noble announced the opening of the path in his video update on January 5.
The Hudson River Brickyard Trail brings the Kingston Greenline Trail through the 520-acre Quarry Waters property, which was protected last year by Scenic Hudson and expected to become part of the state park system eventually. The northern end of the Brickyard Trail merges onto John Street in East Kingston in the Town of Ulster and wends its way over the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge en route to points north and, eventually, west. You can literally shuffle off to Buffalo, if so inclined.
The woodchipped path begins just to the left of the Kayak Center at the northern end of the Kingston Point Beach parking lot. (It’s worth noting that the only public bathroom facilities for this hike are those located at the south side of the lot.) You pass by a chained gate and follow along a chain-link fence on your right until you see a pole with a purple martin house on your left. Here the path takes a sharp right turn and passes through an unlocked gate in the fence, which continues on your right. Signs at intervals warn against trespassing onto private property on either side, but the sparse, scruffy woods aren’t very inviting anyway, with debris piles lining both sides of the pathway. (We presume that the city’s public works crew will be cleaning up the trailbuilding mess in the near future.)
The new spur comes out on North Street at the Willow Street intersection. Making a right onto North Street, you’ll pass through a short stretch of Ponckhockie neighborhood, with buildings built mainly of red brick. Just past the Central Hudson substation on your right you’ll come upon a new brick-and-iron gateway marking the entrance to the Hutton Brickyards resort. Now owned by Salt Hotels, the site is undergoing an expansion phase from riverside event venue to overnight destination. On the January day we visited, a wooden rail fence was under construction and electrical wiring was being installed on a cluster of brand-new tourist cabins. The Salt Hotels website is projecting a spring 2021 reopening date and recruiting employees via a training session set to begin February 8.
Public access is permitted along the stretch of North Road that bisects the private Hutton Brickyards property. Underfoot, the asphalt pavement is crumbly, as if eager to revert to dirt-road status. That changes abruptly when you pass through the cattle gate that marks the official beginning of the 1.3-mile Quarry Waters segment of the trail. Not only is the pathway freshly paved, but it strikes the walker immediately as overengineered – until you recall that part of Scenic Hudson’s mission in reclaiming this former industrial site is ensuring its resilience as a recreation destination far into a future of climate change, rising estuary levels, flooding and erosion. Deep drainage ditches line the trail on either side, especially in spots where it’s carved into a hillside. This thing is built to last.
It’s also obviously meant to attract cyclists, and not merely of the fat-tire variety. The road surface is beautifully smooth, the hills long and gradual, and there’s plenty of room to pass pedestrians without skidding off into a ditch, so long as you keep your speed under control. There’s even a bicycle repair station at the north gateway to the park.
As an aesthetic experience, traveling the Hudson River Brickyard Trail is a time-trip through two centuries of the valley’s industrial past, rather than a sojourn in pristine wilderness. As long as you don’t expect manicured parkland, you’ll have a fine time.
The remnants of the old mining and brickmaking operations create a landscape that often verges on the eerie. The eroded concrete pylons you’ll pass on your right don’t seem to conform to standard rectangular geometry, and here and there you’ll spot an ominous archway into darkness blocked off by a grid of iron bars. Occasional cross-trails and roads sport signs reminding the passer-through that the rest of the park is not yet open for exploration, while Scenic Hudson continues to evaluate its natural and industrial features with a team of consultants led by the landscape architecture firm OLIN.
On your left you’ll follow the base of a jagged cliff that was carved out to quarry clay and stone. At the cliff’s end, the trail jogs right, and your first good vistas of the river itself begin to open up. You’ll pass a grassy hill on the right. An antique aboveground iron pipeline suddenly appears out of the woods on the left, then resumes on the right, paralleling the trail for a while. Soon after this you’ll catch a long view of the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge and know that you’re nearing the promenade’s end. The most intact structure remaining in the park, a brick house with arched brick lintels and an overlay of graffiti, stands on your left just before the new gateway to the north entrance to Quarry Waters.
That northern entry, located near the intersection of John and Willow Streets, offers a small parking lot and two new stone benches, as well as the aforementioned bike repair station. It’s probably the best access point for cyclists, with no unpaved segments to traverse, while Kingston Point Beach can accommodate many more cars.
Trail maps are posted at Kingston Point Beach and the pedestrian gate at Hutton Brickyards. Winter hours are posted from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with pedestrian gates locked after 5 p.m. through March 31.
Primary funding for the $1.5 million Brickyard Trail was provided by the New York Department of State’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program, funded under Title 11 of the Environmental Protection Fund (which means that the money came from developer fees, not taxes). Additional funds were furnished by the Hudson River Valley Greenway, Scenic Hudson, the city of Kingston and the town of Ulster. To learn more about the property and participate in the visioning process for its future use, visit www.quarrywatersparkinfo.org.
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