When you’re out walking in the wilderness, it’s best to go quietly, so as not to startle the birds and four-legged creatures, nor to detract from the contemplative experience of fellow hikers. So, maybe it was poetically appropriate that Ulster County’s new Nature Bus program got off to a stealthy start on Saturday, April 27.
A joint program of Ulster County Area Transit (UCAT) and the Ulster County Department of Tourism, the Nature Bus will run on scheduled Saturdays through mid-October. Opening day involved three demo runs each of the River Route and Mountain Route out of Kingston and two of the Ridge Route out of Ellenville. After the April 27 launch, the River, Ridge and Mountain routes will run on a rotating basis on Saturdays through October 12. Links to the full schedules can be found online at https://participate.ulstercountyny.gov/nature-bus?utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery. Note that some destinations on some dates will be offering special programs.
The program was initiated to expand opportunities for residents — including those without a car or who do not drive — to enjoy the county’s pristine natural treasures and outdoor recreational destinations. With an estimated 7.2 percent of Ulster County households lacking a vehicle, and even higher percentages for renter households (16 percent), this program is intended to help fill a gap in access while providing all residents with the chance to take a fun and free excursion and connect with nature.
How county agencies plan to reach the underserved population and make them aware of the availability of this new service is unclear. If you didn’t make a point of listening to Metzger’s State of the County address back in February, when she first announced the program, and you don’t follow her on social media, you might not even have heard of it as yet. Apparently, few people have, as only a handful turned up for the Kingston launch. It was what might be called a “soft opening,” though perhaps unintentionally.
This reporter was one who got the memo, and rode the River Route bus that left Kingston Plaza at 1 p.m. From there, it made stops at Garraghan Drive, Kingston Point Beach, the south end of Sojourner Truth Park, and then southbound on Route 9W to the Esopus Firehouse (for access to Shaupeneak Ridge) and Walkway over the Hudson.
Riders can also disembark at Black Creek Preserve on 9W and Esopus Meadows Preserve on River Road, but only on the northbound leg of the journey. In other words, from Kingston, you have to ride all the way to the Walkway terminus and stay on for the return loop if either Black Creek or Esopus Meadows is your destination. If you’ve spent your time at Shaupeneak and want to come back to Kingston, you have to catch the southbound bus toward Walkway and loop back around, because there’s no stop there on the “return” leg. Heading back to Kingston, the bus makes an extra loop in East Kingston to pick up anyone who got off earlier at the south end of Sojourner Truth Park and walked to the north end.
These schedules probably make perfect sense to UCAT planners, but they’re not very user-friendly as currently designed. At first glance, it looks as if you can come back from Black Creek or Esopus Meadows, but that you can’t get there to begin with, and the reverse for Shaupeneak. To understand that you simply have to stay on board until the bus changes direction, I had to ask for an explanation from the two UCAT drivers who were sharing driving duties on the River Route that day, Ismail Rodriguez and Jamar Gittens.
Despite the visual confusion of the route map, this service is still a boon for city folks who want to spend a day or half-day enjoying some of the outdoor adventures that Ulster County has to offer. Having the bus loop run three times in one day — leaving Kingston at 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. — means that you can plan to spend anywhere from three to seven hours in one destination, or if you’re really ambitious, take in two sites in a single day.
It’s important to pay close attention to the time and be prompt at the pickup point, as the bus doesn’t linger long at any stop. Make sure your phone is well-charged when you set out. It’s also a wise precaution to pick up a paper copy of the route schedule (available on the bus), rather than relying on your phone to look at the PDF file on the Participate Ulster County website to remember your pickup time, since some of the remoter destinations don’t get great Wi-Fi service.
The River Route will have its next run next Saturday, May 4, and repeat on May 25, June 15, July 6 and 27, August 17, September 7 and 28 and October 5. It should be noted that the 9 a.m. bus originates at Golden Hill at 8:45 a.m., and the last run of the day terminates at Golden Hill at 7:30 p.m.
The Mountain Route, offering access to scenic sites along the Ashokan Reservoir, also originates in Kingston and will run again on May 18, June 8 and 29, July 20, August 10 and 31, September 21 and October 12. The morning run sets out from Golden Hill at 8 a.m. and makes a stop at Garraghan Drive before its “official” start from Kingston Plaza at 8:20 a.m., and the day’s final run stops at Garraghan and ends at Golden Hill. There are also departures from Kingston Plaza at 10:45 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The Mountain Route follows Route 28 northwestward, dropping visitors off at the entries to the Ashokan Rail Trail at Shokan and Boiceville, before heading out to the Hinchey Catskills Visitor Center in Mount Tremper, the turnaround point. On the return trips back into Kingston, riders can also be picked up at the Woodstock Dike. So, you have your choice as to how far you want to walk along the Reservoir’s shores.
Finally, there’s the Ridge Route, which will be back on May 11, June 1 and 22, July 13, August 3 and 24 and September 14, with multiple departures from Ellenville’s Liberty Square beginning at 9:15 a.m. If you’re coming from Kingston and want to make a full day of it, you can hop on the early morning run from Golden Hill, Garraghan Drive or Kingston Plaza, but you won’t be able to get back until the final run in the late afternoon. Destinations on the Ridge Route include Sam’s Point Preserve, Lippman Park and Minnewaska State Park Preserve, and it would be possible to work in more than one if you time it right.
The River Route bus trip that this reporter rode last Saturday went smoothly enough, though there was only one other passenger, who did not wish to have her name used in this article. We both got off at Walkway over the Hudson. A retired teacher with her own car who hikes regularly at various outdoor recreation sites in the region, she was not representative of the nature-starved core population that the designers of the Nature Bus program professed a wish to serve. She said that she had read about the Nature Bus on Facebook and “just want[ed] to see how it is.”
The question remains, then, how much and how quickly public awareness and interest in this new offering will grow, especially among the target population. Will word-of-mouth suffice, or does Ulster County need to mount a full-bore advertising campaign? Will entities that serve economically challenged Kingston residents, such as social service agencies, churches and food pantries, need to organize group outings among their clients?
Perhaps the last word belongs to UCAT drivers Rodriguez and Gittens, who have witnessed ridership on the line increase substantially since it became free of charge in October 2022. Both expressed optimism that usage of the Nature Bus will increase rapidly as soon as people know it’s available. “It would be nice if they can do all three routes every weekend,” Rodriguez said. “I think it’s going to do well.”
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