Delaware and Hudson Rail Trail

The Delaware and Hudson Rail Trail is a 19.8-mile (31.9 km) rail trail running from West Rupert to Castleton in southwestern Vermont. The trail runs in two disjoint segments, separated by a short section that actually leaves the state for neighboring New York State before returning to Vermont. From south to north, the trail traverses the Towns of Rupert, Pawlet, Poultney, and Castleton. However, between Pawlet and Poultney, the trail enters Granville (town), New York (and thus skipping over the intervening Vermont Town of Wells), before returning into Poultney.

Bicycles, horses and hikers share this trail. It was converted from an abandoned Delaware and Hudson Railway corridor known as The Washington Branch, whose trains were known locally as the “Slate Picker”. The Washington Branch ran from Eaglebridge, New York, to Castleton, Vermont. In 1980 Delaware and Hudson Railway fell on hard times and due to track conditions, embargoed the line. The line from Eaglebridge, New York, to Salem, New York, was purchased by Ron Coward with a grant from The Urban Development Corporation and was rebuilt. The Line from Salem, New York, to West Rupert, Vermont, and from West Pawlet, Vermont, to Granville, New York, was purchased by The New York State Department of Transportation. The state had planned a rail trail for both segments that it had purchased, but the Governor Pataki Administration dragged its feet and lost out to a land grab by local property owners, who leveled the right-of-way. The line from Poultney, Vermont, to Castleton, Vermont, was purchased by Vermont Department of Transportation, as was Rupert, Vermont, to Granville, NY. This line fared much better and became the Delaware And Hudson Trail.