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Conkey Corner Park and El Camino Trail are the result of the dedication of the Genesee Land Trust, which had the vision of turning an old railroad right of way into a playground and recreational trail. The Genesee Land Trust worked with the City of Rochester, IBERO and other community partners to create the trail and also a new neighborhood park at the corner of Conkey and Clifford Avenues ...
Get Routes & Distance. Hudson Valley Greenway Trail. Erie Canalway Trail. Champlain Valley Trail.
- Overview
- From east to west: The Erie Canalway Trail
- Points north: Champlain Valley Trail
- River redux: Hudson Valley Greenway Trail
- Trail logistics
The Empire State Trail crisscrosses 750 miles of mountains, brewpubs, and the “Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks.”
“No bike trail parking” reads the sign, hand-painted in spindly letters on a red barn in pastoral North Chatham, New York. On a Tuesday morning, off a side street few would think to plant a car on, the Empire State Trail (EST) is quiet, save for the distant lowing of cows and a chestnut mare who lifts her head to snort at a passing jogger.
Measuring 750 miles, the EST, a T-shaped path linking New York City to the Adirondacks, and Albany to Buffalo, is the longest multi-use rail trail in the United States. It’s emblematic of the state’s push to encourage residents to get outdoors and improve their health. The trail also aims to reconnect communities, many in rural areas which have become increasingly isolated.
According to Andy Beers, director of the EST, the $200 million project—which secured another $93 million in grant funding after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo championed it in 2017—is “the single largest state investment in trails anywhere in the country.”
It’s also inextricably linked with rail history. Once the lifeblood of New York State, railroads drove economic and community growth through the Industrial era, mainly during the 1800s in the U.S. Following the proliferation of the automobile in the early 20th century, many railroads folded.
In 1920, New York State boasted 8,400 miles of railway. Today, only 3,500 miles remain. Of the numerous abandoned corridors, Beers says, “They’ve been sitting there, unpolished gems in the woods, for decades. Now there’s this great energy and enthusiasm for reclaiming and repurposing them.”
At 350 miles, the Erie Canalway Trail is the EST’s longest segment. Starting in Buffalo, it follows portions of the original Erie Canal, which revolutionized life in 1800s America. Along this leg, riders and walkers encounter historic features like lift bridges and the Flight of Five locks, an engineering marvel constructed to heft boats over the Niagara Escarpment—the same rushing waterway that plunges 180 feet over a cliff at Niagara Falls.
The trail also passes 800-acre Genesee Valley Park in Rochester, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. Additionally, several sites significant to the Underground Railroad, which made extensive use of New York’s canal systems, are close to the route.
(See how abolitionists helped the Underground Railroad at these sites.)
Just 300 feet from the trail in Albany, Nine Pin Cider was founded in 2013 by Alejandro del Peral. It’s the first cidery in New York since Prohibition and one of many players in the state’s robust craft beverage movement. Its tasting room seems ideally positioned to reap the economic benefits from some of the 8.6 million visitors projected to use the trail this year.
Stellar Hudson River views headline as the EST heads north from Albany along the 10-mile Mohawk Hudson Bike-Hike Trail to Peebles Island State Park. Located at the confluence of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, the park offers hiking with memorable water vistas.
From here, the EST parallels several towns that were strategic during the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars. The most famous: Ticonderoga, home of the star-shaped Fort Ticonderoga, captured by forces under Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold in 1775.
Nature enthusiasts will appreciate the changing ecology, from woodland to wetland and farmland. It’s prime habitat for wildlife including songbirds, bald eagles, barred owls, osprey, great blue herons, beavers, red and gray foxes, white-tailed deer, Eastern coyotes, and snapping turtles.
(Escape crowded peaks at this little-known Adirondacks park.)
On the opposite end of the EST, the Hudson Valley Greenway Trail begins at The Battery Manhattan. Its middle winds east to west over the Hudson River, atop the Walkway spanning the Hudson in Poughkeepsie, and back again over the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge. Once a powerhouse of industry and commerce, the region is now home to a rich local-foods scene, nearly 100 craft beverage producers, and a growing community of artisans.
Of the EST’s total budget, $45 million went toward the Albany Hudson Electric Trail (AHET). The 36-mile path is built along a defunct, early-1900s trolley line that transported 1.5 million riders per year to attractions like Electric Park—an early, long-shuttered amusement park with a Ferris wheel and vaudeville shows.
Ronald Rich is the president of Columbia Friends of the Electric Trail, one of several volunteer networks that maintain the regional corridors. For him, the trail is the most exciting development in the county in nearly 50 years.
“This reconnects communities,” Rich says. “It’s a profound opportunity for Columbia County to get some real economic advantages and tourism.”
The AHET meanders through a surprising range of landscapes. In the southern towns of Stockport and Stuyvesant, the trail wends along Claverack Creek, past a pair of waterfalls that formerly powered turn-of-the-20th-century mills and a hydroelectric plant.
(Why removing dams opens rivers up to safer recreation.)
The EST is accessible even for those who don’t have a car. Twenty segments of it are close to Amtrak stations, and the national train system allows passengers to BYOB (bring your own bike). From those stops, travelers can set off on two wheels or two feet, sampling different towns along the way.
(These haunting photos show New York State’s abandoned vintage resorts.)
Deborah Gallant, who lives in Columbia County, has cycled several chunks of the EST. “I feel like there’s a bucket list item in there, where my husband drops me in Albany and I meet him in New York City in a day or two," she says. “It’s exciting to think there’s an opportunity, and it’s doable by a 60-year-old woman.”
Even after the COVID-19 crisis subsides, Beers believes there will be demand for the type of safe outdoor experience the EST provides. “Two or three years from now, hopefully the pandemic is in the rearview mirror,” he says. “But I think people who have gotten out there [will have] realized what a great asset these trails are.”
As this map shows, New York has freight rail service throughout its length and breadth, including in a great majority of the State's 62 counties and 62 cities. Four major Class I railroads operate within New York - CSX, CN, CP, NS - as well as about 40 smaller roads.
Sep 11, 2021 · At long last, our 2021 book, Rails to Trails: Rochester Junction Then and Now by Diane Ham & Charles Woolever is available for purchase. It’s a beautiful 182-page softcover book with 127 photos, 51 color pages, 7 informative maps, and a full index.
A paved bicycle/pedestrian path built on the old railroad bed that connected New York City, the Harlem Valley, and Chatham. Access points: Undermountain Road, off Rt 22, Ancram; Valley View Rd, off Rt 22, Copake; Taconic State Park (entrance - near Depot Deli), Rte 344 Copake Falls.
Rail trails provide safe off-highway recreation for walkers and bicyclists of all ages. The Harlem Valley Rail Trail has the additional benefit of traversing the impressive rural landscape of eastern New York. Enjoy your time on the trail! Green - completed and open Yellow - pre-planning Blue - final design and permitting stage
