Crossing Walkway Over the Hudson and the Mid-Hudson Bridge, this 3.6-mile loop offers river views and connects attractions on the Poughkeepsie and Highland waterfronts while linking with 25 miles of rail trails in Ulster and Dutchess Counties. Highland, in Ulster County on the west bank of the Hudson River, stands where Walkway Over the Hudson meets the Hudson Valley Rail Trail and Franny Reese State Park, and is a rural, family-oriented community with apple orchards, open space, waterfront dining, hiking, and a small-town feel close to larger destinations. Poughkeepsie, on the Hudson River and 70 miles from both midtown Manhattan and Albany, serves as the center of the arts, entertainment, higher education, health care, transportation, business, and government for Dutchess County, with Metro-North commuter trains running hourly to and from Grand Central Station. Franny Reese State Park is one of 40 parks created or enhanced by Scenic Hudson, whose leadership grant to Walkway Over the Hudson helped transform the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge into the world's longest elevated park and which is engaged in a collaborative campaign to protect 65,000 acres of land with high scenic, ecological, and agricultural significance.