New Paltz Is the Perfect Car-Free Day Trip From NYC
I ended up in New Paltz because of a wedding. My girlfriend and I went upstate for it, and instead of heading straight back to the city the next morning, we tacked on an extra half-day and hung around New Paltz.
New Paltz has a reputation as a “charming upstate college town,” and I think it deserves it. It’s about 90 minutes from the city. Since it doesn’t have a Metro-North stop, most people assume you need a car to get there. You don’t. And once you’re there, you don’t need one either. I’m writing this as part of my series on car-free travel from NYC, and New Paltz might be one of the easiest cases I can make.
How to Get to New Paltz Without a Car
The most direct option is the Trailways bus from Port Authority. Pine Hill Trailways runs from Port Authority straight to New Paltz, with several daily departures. The stop is right in the town center, which matters a lot for a car-free trip. I wrote a full review of the Trailways bus here. The short version is that it’s clean, reliable, and reasonably priced.
The other option is Metro North to Poughkeepsie, then a transfer to the Ulster-Poughkeepsie LINK, which is the Ulster County Area Transit (UCAT) bus that runs between the Poughkeepsie train station and New Paltz.
The UCAT frequency isn’t great, so check the schedule before you leave. The full schedule is at ucat.ulstercountyny.gov. If you already have a Metro North pass or the timing works better from your part of the city, or you want to see Poughkeepsie too, this makes sense.
I’m Glad I Went in the Fall
I went in October and I think that’s when New Paltz is at its best.
The town sits at the foot of the Shawangunk Ridge, which means the fall foliage here is real foliage, native trees known for their colors, not a swarm of London Plane trees that you’ll see in NYC parks. If you’re in the city feeling that seasonal itch to get outside and see some actual nature, New Paltz scratches it without requiring a rental car, a toll headache, or a parking nightmare.
The Wallkill Valley Rail Trail
Although New Paltz is more of a “charming small town” day trip than a nature day trip, there’s a nice trail that’s accessible from downtown. You can walk straight onto the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail from downtown. You don’t need to drive to a trailhead. You just walk. (I took zero photos like an idiot.)
The trail is a converted rail line that cuts through the Hudson Valley.
It runs for over 20 miles, so for this, you’ll walk out as much as you want and walk back. It’s flat, easy walking, and the trees close in on both sides.
New Paltz is a walkable, transit-served town with a protected natural trail right at its doorstep. It’s easy to assume that car-free living means trading away access to nature. New Paltz makes the opposite argument. Keeping a real downtown intact, instead of bulldozing it for parking lots and drive-throughs, is what makes this possible. (But that’s probably a longer conversation for another post.)
For more car-free nature from NYC, check out my articles on hiking in Pelham Bay and Van Cortlandt Park.
The Downtown
Main Street in New Paltz is what a small-town main street should be. It’s narrow, walkable, lined with independent businesses, and it has actual people on it.
There are two bookstores directly across the street from each other. Barner Books and Inquiring Minds. I love bookstores and I spent time in both. The kind of town that can sustain two bookstores across from each other is a town that’s doing something right.
I went into Beans Cat Cafe and purchased 90 minutes with the cats. All the cats are shelter animals up for adoption, and the coffee’s good too. If you have any interest in adopting a cat, this is either the best place or the worst place for you.
This was a work-from-home day for me, so I spent a few hours at the library after our 90 minutes expired.
It’s a nice space, and if you work remotely, you could realistically combine a WFH morning with an afternoon in the town. Take the early bus, work a few hours at the library, then spend the rest of the day on the trail and Main Street. Not a bad way to spend a Tuesday.
It’s an Easy Trip Without a Car
Everything above is walkable from where the Trailways bus drops you off.
The rail trail, both bookstores, the cat café, the library, and whatever restaurant you pick for lunch. You don’t need to arrange anything beyond getting there.
For me, that’s what makes a good car-free day trip from New York City. You need to be able to get there without a car, and then once you arrive, you need to be able to do things without one.
