Wallkill
Walden to route 213 at Sturgeon Pool
| Difficulty | I-II |
| Length | 27 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Wallkill River at Gardiner Ny |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 496 cfsrunnable |
| Reach Info Last Updated | May 16, 2022 |
River Description
Lat/longitude coords and mileage are approximate, from TopoZone.
The Wallkill is a long, and mostly calm river flowing through suburban and farm areas. As a result of flowing through farms in northern New Jersey and Orange County New York the river will be less than pristine by the time it reaches Walden. It would be possible to put in considerably further upstream if one wanted. This river is much more suited to canoes or other boats that will reduce the paddler's intimacy with the water.
Put in is located at the bottom of a long, sloping grass yard at the shopping plaza in Walden with Hannaford and Orange County Bagel just below a significant dam. The river here is mostly calm with a few, very minor rapids.
Paddle to Wallkill and look for a river access via a boat launch on the east side of the river at Popp Memorial Park. This is the takeout for the mandatory portage around a low head dam. From Popp Memorial Park, head North on Route 208 and continue to Wallkill Ave. You'll make a left onto Bruyn Turnpike (Route 18) and cross a bridge from which you can see the dam. Continue North until you reach Lippincort Rd. On the right you'll find river access in the form of a DEC Fishing Access site.
The river from here is mostly calm with the occassional short stretch of rapids (using the term loosely). The most challenging feature on this route is a rapid section about 3.5 miles below the route 44/55 bridge in Gardiner. There are large boulders in this area and runnable lines are very limited when water levels are low. This section probably determines the lower range at which this whole section could be paddled, though it would likely be possible to portage along the road or line your boat. It may be worth scouting this section via an easy bushwack off of Libertyville Road.
The river from the rapids off Libertyvill road to New Paltz is calm. For those wishing to shorten the trip, there is river access via the Sojourner Truth Park on Plains
...River Features
Put In
Put in behind the Orange County Bagel building in the Hannaford Plaza in Walden, NY. There is a grassy slope down to the river below a large dam.
Access Point
River access via boat launch at Popp Memorial Park in Wallkill
Access Point
River access via DEC Fishing Access location on Lippincott Road.
Access Point
River access via boat launch at Sojourner Truth Park on Plain Road in New Paltz.
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportWe completed a 2-man paddle of the Walkill River from Walden to New Paltz in a 16' Mohawk Blazer. After a late start around 11:30 we paddled pretty leisurely through the afternoon and landed in New Paltz at around 4:30.
The 9:00 a.m. river data showed 790cfm and left its designation 'runnable', which we would tend to agree with. There was one section about nine tenths of a mile from our put-in behind Orange County Bagel that we lined the boat because it was very shallow. Other than that and the occasional light grounding on a rock we were able to paddle comfortably.
The river was turbid, but we saw plenty of wildlife along our trip. Many herons, mallard, wood, and merganser ducks, a school(?) of carp, red tailed hawks, kingfishers, and canada geese were seen along the way.
Some garbage was strewn about on the shoreline, but not much. This paddle is definitely not remote in any sense of the word, but it was a fun afternoon for us nonetheless.
The paddle was really Class I throughout the vast majority of our trip. One section with large boulders just south of New Paltz along Libertyville Road posed the only significant challenge of the day. It would be difficult to carry around this feature, but it might be possible to line it. Inexperienced paddlers or the cautious-minded should consider scouting the section via a bushwack from Libertyville Road prior to trying to run this section.