2 Times in 2 Months Wallkill River Floods Roads and Popular Walking Trail

It has happened again, the road out of New Paltz is flooded by the Wallkill River. As they do so often when we get a lot of rain in a short period of time some of our local roadways become more like ponds than roads. For the 2nd time this Fall Route 299 heading out of New Paltz is under water.

The water rising poses a hazard to drivers and to the public, but it also results in people gathering to watch mother nature at work. This morning I found myself in the lower part of New Paltz. This is how I discovered that the road had flooded overnight. No surprise when you consider the amount of rain we received with yesterday's (Oct 26, 2021) Nor'easter.

I was intrigued and of course wanted to take a closer look, so I parked my car and walked over the Carmine Liberta Bridge. Turns out I wasn't the only person with that idea. I was pleasantly surprised how many people were out walking on a windy morning and taking in the view of the area just outside of New Paltz filled with water.

The area is a common flood plain. There is even a story about how once the river flooded nearby Wallkill View Farm and sent all there pumpkins down stream. No matter how many times you have seen it flood it is still wild to look at the Wallkill River leaving it's banks and flooding lower New Paltz.

If you plan to take a look don't wait long because as fast as the waters rise, they retreat and it looks as if it nothing ever happened.

How many of these National Parks have you been to?