Times Union: Five Things To Know About Walkway Over the Hudson
Written by Cloey Callahan, Times Union
March 19, 2022
Unused for 35 years, a former railroad bridge was transformed into a pedestrian and cycling path now known as The Walkway Over the Hudson, which draws 600,000 visitors annually — the bulk of whom walk its 1.28 miles between Poughkeepsie and Highland in the spring, summer and fall.
Part of Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park, the walkway is the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge and rises 212 feet above the Hudson River.
For decades this major rail corridor, which was the longest bridge in the world when it opened in 1889, carried freight and passengers, until a fire in 1974 put it out of commission. The restored bridge reopened as a public footbridge in 2009 and more than 6.2 million people have visited since.