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Print Friendly MapThis pleasant, flat rail-trail parallels Capoolong Creek through the Capoolong Creek Wildlife Management Area for nearly 4 miles. The surface is varied, so the trail is best suited for hiking or mountain biking. The experience is one of quiet woodlands with opportunities for observing many types of birds, deer, and other animals.
Those wishing for a longer adventure, can pick up the nearby Landsdown Trail, which begins in Landsdown and continues nearly 2 miles northward.
Visitors to the trail can park at locations including (from south to north):
This used to be a wonderful trail, however, with storms in recent years, it has fallen into disrepair. It is quite dangerous in many spots. A major liability for the township and state. Dangerous to walk, run or bike on and forget horseback riding this area from the white bridge to Lower Kingtown Road. Please someone fix this beloved trail!!!!
A beautiful and scenic walk.
A quiet walk along the water, we enjoyed very much. A little tricky to determine a place to park in Pittstown
Was pleased to discover the Capoolong trail was about a five-minute drive from my hotel off Exit 15 of I-78. No one else was on the trail on a wet Sunday morning (except for a deer that went crashing through the brush and looked somewhat annoyed to see me). Which is a good thing because it's pretty narrow - more a footpath (as others have noted) than a rail trail. Really muddy in spots. About 20 minutes into my walk, I found the path blocked by a fallen tree. Decided to turn back because I was a little pressed for time. It's very peaceful. The trail runs alongside the creek. A real getaway (though you can still sometimes see suburban homes through the trees).
The trail winds along a gorgeous secluded creek. Unlike most rail-trails, the Capoolong more resembles a footpath, with rocks, tree roots, and periodic overgrowth to add to the fun -- and sometimes the frustration. The trail also lacks signage: you have to know about it and be looking for it to find it. Despite the quirks, it's a beautiful ride or walk from Landsdown to Pittstown. If you like getting away from crowds and modest technical challenges, bike the 4-mile Capoolong. If you're leery about scratching or biting things that may lurk in tall grasses of summer, stick to the more user-friendly 2-mile Landsdown Trail to Clinton.
Its mostly a single track trail, narrow, some wet spots, some rock, some roots, some gravel. Today I met no other bikers. It is flat (old railroad trail). Beautiful nature.
Nice change of pace from our usual trips on Columbia trail (which we love!) Single file for most of trail with plenty of rocks and roots so need to pay attention. But beautiful scenery along the creek with wildflowers, woods, fields, farm homes.... Started in Clinton on landsdown trail, at the end, took right and quick left, over RR tracks and picked up this trail on the right. (we have hybrid bikes)
My husband, two teenagers and I just finished a delightful mountain biking excursion from Pittstown to Clinton on the Capoolong Creek Trail and then the Landsdown Trail. The weather had been dry for a few days and we were lucky enough for a nice day in April; it couldn't have been better - too early for bugs and the wild roses were only starting to get into gear. We dropped a car off in Clinton and drove to Pittstown with the 4 bikes. This allowed us to tackle the rougher Pittstown portion of the trail first and then it was easy sailing for most of the ride. We finished the day with drinks and munchies in Clinton before retrieving the other car and loading up the bikes. Not bad for a few hours on our day off. :-)
This is a great trail and I love it. You want to start it in Clinton. It is actually over about 6.5 miles from there. But as another post alludes to. This trail get very dicey on the back end of it towards pittstown. Very narrow, rocky and rutty. Coming back is mostly downhill and you pick up some good speed. I hit a rock with my pedal last year on the back end of this trail and wiped out breaking 3 ribs, so take the back end slow with a tight grip on your bars.
I no longer go north of the 2nd wooden rail bridge on this trail.
Wife and I had a nice ride on this trail that is mostly narrow single track. Met several horses on our bike ride. The scenery is just beautify, and you can hear the creek babbling as you ride in many places. I found the derelict station at the end quite intriguing. Note: my wife did not rate this trail as easy, due to water erosion that created a narrow trail "channel" in several places. The trail went from better to worse, so if you find the going not to your liking, you can turn around.
We parked in Clinton NJ and took the Landsdown Trail south to the Capoolong trailhead (well, some maps show it as the AT&T right-of-way), which adds another 2 miles one way to the trip. Thus, the combined trails make for a 10+ mile round trip, a nice way to spend a summer afternoon!
"This is a great trail. It's scenic and flat. An extension of the trail, about two miles, brings you into the town of Clinton."
" This pleasant, flat trail winds it's way along the Capoolong Creek from Pittstown to the active rail line in Lansdowne. It is a pretty walk along a trout stream. Biking and horseback riding are allowed. The southern half of the trail has the bulk of the limited parking areas. There is a steel bridge near the middle, with bridge ties in place. Just north of the bridge, there is a short detour around a superfund site (a former DDT plant). Just beyond this site, the trail can be wet for a while. This trail can be buggy in the usual seasons, but is a pleasant walk/ride at other times. or with proper protection.
Rates a 6 out ot 10!
Fred"
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