Residing in Ulster County for ten years, I frequently yearned to discover what lay beyond the limited view I had of the abandoned tracks I repeatedly crossed when heading south from Route 28 just west of Kingston. But I knew if I parked my car and strolled along between those rusty steel rails, a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officer would soon confront me requesting my access permit, for those tracks skirted the shores of the Ashokan Reservoir, one of New York City’s largest and heavily protected water supplies. I was thrilled a few years back when all of the talk about it potentially becoming a rail trail looked as though it was coming to fruition. That day has finally come and an avid Albany cyclist/Thacher Park trustee/supporter of Parks & Trails New York (PTNY) shared some of his experience (and photos) with me as he created tire tracks upon former train tracks.