Dedicated Parking Ribbon Cutting

We did it! Dedicated Parking is open!

Dedicated parking for access to Riverbend Trails at Gardiner Park is officially open. Upon completion of the connector trail we were able to gather to celebrate with an official Ribbon Cutting.

Check out the Hudson Valley One Press Coverage highlighting this special day.

We are thankful to all of the following for their support in making this happen.

• Town of Gardiner Supervisor Marybeth Majestic

• Town of Gardiner Board Members

• Town of Gardiner Parks and Recreation

• Town of Gardiner Highway Department

• P E Colucci

• Hudson Valley Trailworks

• Gardiner Trail Alliance Volunteers

• The community of trail users and supporters

One housekeeping note to mention. Now that we have dedicated parking and a connector trail we ask that you refrain from entering any of the paved Transfer Station areas while using the trails.

Progress on connector trail

Thank you to our volunteers who came out to help build the new parking lot connector trail. Many hands made quick work of moving tons of material. This is an important milestone for Riverbend Trails. Thanks as well to the Town of Gardiner Highway Department for building the new lot and feeding us material to build the connector trail. After another quick round of work the trail and lot should be ready for use.

Dedicated parking is happening!

We are very excited to share an update on the largest ask of the team since starting Riverbend Trails at Gardiner Park. How can we extend the hours of availability? When we started we knew parking would be limited to the hours that the Transfer Station was open. This was an acceptable trade off. We had to start somewhere and prove the viability of the project and the desire for people to use the trails. Over time, thanks to the efforts of many volunteers and partners at the Town of Gardiner, we got the trails in great shape. Word spread and usage increased. We even held an amazing Dump Run 5k/10k at Riverbend Trails. If you build it they will come. Well we built it and people came. People started to ask for more access. It was time to find a solution to meet the need. 

After some quick rounds of brainstorming, site visits and discussions with the Town of Gardiner Town Board, Town of Gardiner Parks and Rec and Town of Gardiner Highway Department we had a plan. The Highway Department used a slowdown in snow removal needs to clear and build a new parking lot.The location being at the end of the T of Steve’s Lane just to the side of the Transfer Station gate. Building the lot was a very heavy lift that we are tremendously thankful to the Highway Department team and P E Colucci Excavating. Upon completion of the new lot it was time to build a new connector trail to get to the main trail kiosk. Thanks to the efforts of a small army of volunteers we are happy to say that is well underway. Completion should be weeks away allowing the lot to officially open. Once open Riverbend Trails will be accessible dawn to dusk seven days a week! Stay tuned for the new parking openning announcement. 

We are very thankful to all the trail users, supporters, volunteers and partners. You all make it clear this is a worthwhile effort. 

Winter Trail Work Session 2

Please help extend a huge thanks to the 18 Gardiner Trail Alliance volunteers who came out to help on the trails for our second work session of the winter. We solved another troublesome spot on the Deer Run Trail by installing culverts and building numerous turnpikes before and after. We plan on making use of our spring like conditions to keep working on the trails. Make sure you sign up via the Show Interest Form to hear about the next volunteer work sessions in April.

Winter Trail Work Session 1

Please help extend a huge thanks to the 12 Gardiner Trail Alliance volunteers who braved the 11°F cold 🥶 to come out today for some trail work! We solved one of the troublesome spots on the Deer Run Trail by installing a culvert and building a turnpike. We will be out in action next Saturday as well. Join in the fun and thank your local trail builders.

Trails are in good shape

After a much needed mow today the trails are in amazing shape. Nice and dry as well. Come check them out. Do not let the heat scare you away. Mornings and late afternoons are splendid with plenty of spots to rest in the shade. Do bring plenty of water though. Stay tuned for August guided tours info. Can not wait until then? Send us a request at info@gardinertrailalliance.org and we will try to accommodate adhoc tours.

First Annual Gardiner Dump Run 5k/10k

We are excited to announce the new 5K/10K trail run on September 25th, 2022 at Riverbend Trails!

Register Here

We are also looking for sponsors. If you are interested to find out more click here.

Trees for Tribs plants 370 trees at Gardiner Park!

On Saturday May 21st Gardiner Climate Smart with help from Gardiner Trail Alliance and over 50 volunteers participated in the 2022 Trees for Tribs planting at Gardiner Park. Despite a hot morning 370 new trees and shrubs were planted. After the planting numerous people enjoyed checking out the Riverbend Trails. When combined with last years event we are now at 670 trees planted. It is very impressive to see the results. We appreciate all of the help from our volunteers.

Be sure to check out our Google Photos album for the event.

Riverbend Trails has a Flow Trail!

We are thrilled to announce that Riverbend Trails now has an incredibly fun flow trail thanks to Hudson Valley Trailworks! What is a flow trail? IMBA defines them as “Flow Trails take mountain bikers on a terrain-induced roller coaster experience, with little pedaling and braking necessary. This style of trail typically contains features like banked turns, rolling terrain, various types of jumps, and consistent and predictable surfaces.”

The team at Hudson Valley Trailworks donated their time, machines, material and expertise to make this a safe and fun trail for riders of all ages to enjoy. We dare you to ride the trail without smiling at least once. Please note this trail is one way starting by the parking lot. Session it by riding back to the start on Warblers Way.

Riverbend Trails at Gardiner Park soft opening!

Gardiner Trail Alliance along with Gardiner Parks and Recreation are proud to announce the soft opening of Riverbend Trails at Gardiner Park. While there is still work to be done we encourage Gardiner Residents to check out the progress made so far. Plenty of winter scenery to be enjoyed with caution.

Please keep in mind you need to park in the lot behind the transfer station and the trails are currently only open during Gardiner Transfer Station hours. Once you park you can visit our new kiosk for trail map and info as seen below.

2021 GTA Year End Summary

As of 12/31/21 Gardiner Parks and Recreation as well as Gardiner Trail Alliance are proud to say we have completed most of Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Riverbend Trails Phased Project Plan. This work represents 390 hours of volunteer work and over $18,000 worth of donations during 2021. We are off to an amazing start and we would like to extend our gratitude for all of the partners and volunteers. Looking forward to continued success in 2022. At this point in time we would like to share the soft opening of Riverbend Trails. Please check out our progress during transfer station hours or continue to visit us at https://gardinertrailalliance.org for updates.

Gardiner Trail Alliance awarded ExtremeTerrain Clean Trail Grant

Gardiner Trail Alliance is excited to share that we have been awarded a ExtremeTerrain Clean Trail Grant. A project as ambitious as ours requires significant time and resources. We thank ExtremeTerrain for this grant. We used this grant towards purchasing culverts to fix troublesome drainage issues on our trails.

For more information about the grant or to show some gratitude for their support please visit https://www.extremeterrain.com/clean-trail-initiative-program.html

Town of Gardiner votes to approve Riverbend Trails at Gardiner Park project!

Tonight the Town Board voted unanimously in approval for Phase 1 and Phase 2 to go ahead of creating Riverbend Trails at Gardiner Park. We are very thankful for all the time and energy spent to get us this far and look forward to the progress ahead. Make sure you sign up for updates if you have not done so already. More info on the next steps to come shortly.

Riverbend Trails Proposal and Plan are live

We are excited to share the Riverbend Trails at Gardiner Park Project Proposal and Phased Project Plan. This is the result of years of research and planning. GTA will present these at the Town of Gardiner Town Board Workshop Meeting on September 7th, 2021 at 7PM.