The Skywalk delivers on sweeping views of the Hudson River, and this alone makes it worth a stop…read more The heart of the Skywalk is a pedestrian path along the south parapet of the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. The concrete walkway features a number of small bump outs to take photos. Signs note that because the path is narrower than 6', masks are required. Bikes must be walked. There are concrete barriers separating pedestrians from the vehicle traffic, but the bridge is a busy thoroughfare with lots of truck traffic, so expect it to be quite noisy. To access the bridge path, there is free parking off the traffic circle at the eastern landing, and there is a small park near the toll booths on the western landing (there is also parking here accessible to eastbound traffic). Restrooms at the Bridge Authority facility on the western landing are closed during COVID (there are restrooms at the Cole site and Olana). The trail also connects the Thomas Cole National Historic Site near the western landing with the Olana State Historic Site on the eastern bank of the river. The trail thus links together the 19th century Hudson River School art movement, connecting teacher (Thomas Cole), student (Frederic Church, who built Olana), and subject (the Hudson). This is a really cool idea, and it's also quite a hike. We clocked the roundtrip from the parking lot on the eastern landing to the Cole site at just over 3 miles. The last leg up to Olana (which we hiked separately) also includes a monster hill. Budget your time and energy appropriately, and bring water and comfortable shoes. You can find more about all three sites here: https://www.hudsonriverskywalk.org/.

It's beautiful! The bridge is astounding and I love that you can walk the entire length. It's…read morepretty long! I walked 2/3 of it with my husband down and back and it was like 1/3 of a mile or something like that!

We didn't spot the parking area on the west side of the bridge and there was traffic behind us, so…read morewe continued across the bridge and there is a parking area on the east side. It's free parking but you have to cross the traffic at the roundabout and that's always a good time. In place since 1935, this cantilever and truss bridge is 145 feet above the Hudson River below. Plenty of space for pedestrians with a very high curb and that made me feel safe from the traffic. There are a couple of spots with overhangs so that you can step a bit out from the bridge to look at it from the side. Helpful! The bridge joins the cities of Hudson and Catskill, carrying NY route 23. It is a total of 5040 feet from end to end. The toll is eastbound only. There are a number of mounted telephones for suicide awareness. I guess enough people have jumped that they felt the need to put the phones up. On a clear day, the "America's First Canvas" notes make sense. This area got some of the first American landscape paintings by Thomas Cole (1801-1848) and Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900). Before the bridge, of course. [Review 11496 overall, 1276 of 2019.]

It looks like they finally removed the 25mph speed limit on the Greene County side of the bridge…read more That, plus removing toll booths and repaving that stretch of road definitely speeds up the flow of traffic across the bridge.