I went on a grand tour of Central and Western NY to ride all the remaining trails there: the Verona Beach Rail Trail, the Sylvan Beach Rail Trail, the Black Diamond Trail, the Ridgeway Trail, the Wellsville, Addison, and Galeton (WAG) Trail, the Hinsdale section of the Genesee Valley Greenway, the Corry Junction Rail Trail, The Lancaster Heritage Trail, the Groveland Secondary Trail, and the Genesee River Conservancy Trail.
I have a goal of riding every named Rail-Trail in New York State.
Been working on it since June of 2004.
There are many more railbeds not used for trains anymore which are
also ridable. They are usually unnamed, unsigned, and unpublished. I
speculate that this is because the owner is either indifferent or
away. I've ridden some of these but I'm more interested in getting
the named trails ridden first. I'm uploading them to
OpenStreetMap as I go.
Trails I've ridden:
- Albany County Rail Trail (Elsemere west to Slingerlands),
- Albany County Rail Trail (Elsemere east to Normanskill),
- Andes Rail Trail (footpath)
- Auburn Fleming Trail,
- Ballston Bike Trail,
- Black Diamond Trail,
- Black River Recreational Trail,
- Bog Meadow Brook,
- Canalway Trail (Rochester/Greece),
- Cycling The Canalway Trail 2012, a supported ride sponsored by Parks and Trails NY.
- Cycling The Canalway Trail 2013
- Catharine Valley Trail,
- Cato Fair Haven Trail,
(again, partially),
- Catskill Scenic Trail (west of Stamford),
- Catskill Scenic Trail (Stamford to Grand Gorge Station),
- Catskill Scenic Trail (south of Grand Gorge Station),
- Cayuga Hojack Trail,
- Charlie Major Nature Trail,
- Cheektowaga Bike Path,
- The Chautaqua Rails to Trails has a group of rail-trails all built on the same railroad.
- Clarence Akron Pathways and Clarence Newstead Trails, (earlier partial ride),
- Cohoes Black Bridge Trail,
- Corning Bike Path,
- Corry Junction Greenway Trail,
- D&H Canal Heritage Corridor North (which seems to be called the Marbletown Rail Trail now, the extended part),
- D&H Canal Heritage Corridor South, (partially)
- D&H Trail Southern Section (to the VT state line, south into VT),
- D&H Trail Northern Section, only a tiny bit of which is in NY,
- D&H railbed (not a named trail, but it's a snowmobile trail and bicyclable.)
- Dutchess Rail Trail,
- The East Ithaca Recreational Trail,
- El Camino Rail Trail,
- Erie-Attica Trail,
- Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Rail Trail,
- Genesee Valley Conservancy Trail,
- Genesee Valley Greenway 1 (Scottsville to Piffard and back),
- Genesee Valley Greenway 2 (Mt. Morris to Rochester),
- Genesee Valley Greenway 3 (Nunda to Cuba),
- Genesee Valley Greenway 4 (Hinsdale),
- Gorge Trail,
(again),
- Groveland Secondary Trail (not very bicyclable),
- Great Bend Park Trail,
- Harlem Valley Rail Trail,
- Harlem Valley Rail Trail (Hillsdale),
- Harlem Valley Rail Trail (extended north from Copake Falls),
- Heritage Park Rail Trail,
- Hilton Hojack Trail,
- Hoosic Greenway Trail,
- Hudson Valley Rail Trail,
- Jim Schug Trail,
- Jim Tedisco Fitness Trail,
- Joseph B. Clarke Railtrail,
- Kaaterskill Rail Trail,
- Kennedy Rail Trail,
- Kerhonksen Railtrail,
- Kings Park Hike and Bike Trail,
- Kingston Point Rail Trail,
- Lackawanna Trail,
- Lancaster Heritage Trail,
- Lehigh Memory Trail (Williamsville),
- Lehigh Valley Rail Trail (Naples),
- Lehigh Valley Trail North (Rush),
- Lehigh Valley Trail North (Crittenden),
- Lehigh Valley Trail (Rochester/Rush/Mendon - but not all the way into Victor),
- Lehigh Valley Trail (from Mendon to Victor),
- Maple City Trail,
- Mohawk-Hudson Bike Trail (which is also the Erie Canalway Trail),
- North County Trailway,
- Northport Rail Trail,
- NYO&W Liberty Rail Trail,
- NYO&W Parksville Rail Trail,
- NYO&W Hurleyville Rail Trail,
- NYO&W Woodridge Rail Trail,
- Oneida Rail Trail,
- Ontario Pathways Rail Trail,
- Orange Heritage Trailway (the unimproved eastern end),
- Orange Heritage Trailway (the official paved section),
- Oswego Recreational Trail,
- Outlet Trail,
- Pat McGee Trail,
- Philip A. Rayhill Memorial Recreational Trail,
- Pittsford Railroad Loop Trail,
- Pittsford Rail Trail,
- Putnam County Trailway,
- Railroad Run,
- Ridgeway Trail,
- Rivergate Trail,
- Rochester, Syracuse & Eastern Trolley Trail,
- The Rutland Trail (many many times. Also see the Rutland Trail website),
- South Cazenovia Rail Trail
- South County Trailway (southern portion)
- South County Trailway (northern portion)
- South Hill Recreation Way,
- Spring Run Trail,
- Stillwater Rail Trail,
- Sylvan Beach Rail Trail,
- Tannersville Bike Path (Huckleberry Multi-Use Trail),
- Tarrytown Lakes extension,
- The Uncle Sam Bikeway,
- Town of Edwards Nature Trail,
- Verona Beach State Park Rail Trail,
- Vestal Rail Trail,
- Wallkill Valley Rail Trail,
- Wallkill Valley Rail Trail North of Rosendale,
- Walkway Over The Hudson (and the new part of the Hudson Valley Trail and more parts of the Dutchess Rail Trail which I hadn't ridden earlier),
and again, only end-to-end this time, 40 miles in total.
- Walden-Walkill Rail Trail (which I had called the Shawangunk Rail Trail),
- Warren County Bikeway (first rode it many years ago, before I had my GPS),
- Webster Hojack Trail Extension,
- Wellsville, Addison, and Galeton (WAG) Trail,
- White Plains Greenway (bicycles prohibited, so I walked this),
- Zim Smith Trail, again, and again, but this time I also rode the connected "Route 9 Bypass" trail which uses part of the Hudson Valley trolley line.
Trails I haven't (yet) ridden:
- Maybrook Trailway in Brewster
- Shawangunk Ridge Trail (maybe. Possibly not bicyclable.)
- Terry Gordon Trail in Plattsburgh.
- Saranac Lake Recreational Path (rail with trail).
- D & H Canal Trail - Bashakill Wildlife Management Area (canal trail next to the NYO&W).
Trails I have no plans to ride:
- Anything that's not a former railroad,
- Allegheny River Valley Trail. Only a portion runs close to an existing railroad,
- Hojack Trail Hamlin. Brushed over and posted. Published in a trail guide, but not rideable,
- Southampton's Long Pond Greenbelt Trail. No bicycling allowed,
- Sodus Point to Wallington Trail (snowmobile trail, not mowed),
- Spring Valley's Monsey Recreational Trail, doesn't exist, but I thought it did.,
- The Port Jefferson-Wading River Rail-Trail, not a trail yet.
posted at: 13:17 |
path: /bicycling |
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