Ashokan Rail Trail- Ashokan Station Trailhead — Attraction in Town of Olive

The Ashokan Rail Trail is one of the best recreational trails anywhere! The trail is 11.5 miles long and follows an old Delaware and Ulster railroad line. The trail has scenic views of the Catskills and Ashokan Reservoir. The trail is mostly flat and consists of crushed stone. The trail has mile markers going along the side of the trail. There are no traffic stops or street crossing for the entire length of the trail. Most of the trail is shaded so on a hot day this is the place to be. The chances of seeing local wildlife are very good. I was able to spot a few deer and even a bear. There are three different trailheads you can connect to the trail on. The trailheads are located at Boiceville, Shokan (Ashokan Station Trailhead), and Woodstock. The Ashokan Trailhead has many spots for parking and restrooms. Some also access the trail through gates which are located off Route 28. There are maps available at each trailhead on the trail. The most scenic part of the trail is between the Boiceville Trailhead and Ashokan Station Trailhead. On this section there are outstanding views of the Catskills and the reservoir. There are many benches to sit and enjoy the views here. The section of the trail near the Woodstock Trailhead has a nice view of the reservoir from the levy of the reservoir. Overall, you can’t go wrong on this trail. You can walk, hike, or bike and either way you will get the chance to experience all the beauty of...

We have hiked from each of the Ashokan Rail Trail trailheads and this might be our favorite one. I like that you can go both directions and it’s less traveled than the Boiceville Bridge Trailhead. This time it was on a 90 plus degree day and this part of the rail trail is mostly in the shade. It was a Wednesday in July and we only passed 4 other people on our 6.5 mile out and back walk. You don’t get any views of the Ashokan until the 3 mile mark. It feels more like a hike in the woods than along a reservoir.

There are a couple of picnic tables and porta potties at this parking lot. The porta potties were in great shape. A kiosk gives information about the trail and includes a map. There is a second parking area reserved for fishermen and hunters with a DEP access permit.

A bonus for us is that they have an EV charger in the parking lot. It’s a really cool charger as it’s self contained with solar panels that charge built in batteries which are used to charge the EV car. It’s only 5.7kW which is fine for a trailhead parking area. It’s free for two hours and then $1 an hour after that. We hiked for just under 2 hours. Now they need EV charging at the other Rail Trail parking areas. We look for places to walk/hike that have...

Families with young children, please stay away from this trail. There are areas with steep drop offs on both sides with no guardrails. Absolutely no safety measures whatsoever! The gravel trail is not for road bikes. The entire ride was bumpy and unpleasant.

We are a family of 4 with 6yo and 10yo. Rented bikes from overlook bicycles and went on a bike ride from Shokan side that turned out to be an absolute nightmare. My 6yo had a difficult time going straight and kept swaying from one end to another. She even fell off the bike a couple of times and scraped her knees. We rode for 30 minutes and saw nothing but woods on both sides. After the first mile, we found ourselves in an elevated area with steep drop offs and no barriers or guardrails. Anyone could easily fall off the trail and get fatally injured. The sight of my 6yo swaying on her bike from one end to another raised my anxiety levels. I kept praying that we reach back safely. Our bodies are still hurting from riding on the gravel and my kids want to stay away from trail biking after...