Marbletown O&W Rail Trail

Marbletown O&W Rail Trail brochure

The Marbletown O&W Rail Trail is part of the old O&W Railroad bed that ran from Kingston to Ellenville until its demise in 1957.  Taken over by Ulster County at that time, the Marbletown portion of the trail is now owned by the Town of Marbletown.  The Marbletown  portion runs from the Hurley town line south to the Rochester town line through the Town of Marbletown for approximately nine miles, and is designated as a linear park for the town.  Main trail heads with parking are located at Marcott Road and Cottekill Road, with newly enlarged parking at the Leggett Road trail head.   

Since the fall of 2009 the trail has been maintained and improved by the Marbletown Trails Committee, an all volunteer group of dedicated citizens who have already made substantial improvements by clearing, widening and cleaning up the trail.  Their goal for 2010 was to open up the trail from end to end, this was finally achieved by the opening of the most southerly section from Rest Plaus Road south to the abutments at Kripplebush Creek in December of 2010.  A contracted mowing plan was advanced by the committee and now provides a picturesque and level trail to traverse. The committee has been greatly assisted by Highway Superintendent Doug Stevens and his crew in these endeavors.

Future plans call for general trail bed improvements, trail bridges over both Rest Plaus Road and the Kripplebush Creek, improved trail access at Route 213, and new and improved signage.  The funding for these activities will come from future grant awards.  One such award was recently obtained from the Hudson Valley Greenway for a trail brochure and website design.  Completion of this project is scheduled for June, 2011.

The Trails Committee meets monthly through out the year and is chaired by Carl Pezzino.  Committee members are each stewards of the six segments of the trail.  These members are:

Sandy Sheeley and Tony Russo:  Hurley town line (.5 mile marker) south to Marcott Road

Ed Morris:                                    Marcott Road south to Cottekill Road

Tom Sheldon and Ron Pierce:     Cottekill Road south to Leggett Road

Carl Pezzino and Paul Bogart:     Leggett Road south to Route 213

Andy Lutz and Bill Eggers:         Route 213 south to Rest Plaus Road

All:                                               Rest Plaus road south to Rochester own line

In addition, Brooke Pickering-Cole, Town Supervisor and Doug Stevens, Superintendent of Highways are at-large members of the committee.

Marbletown O&W Rail Trail brochure