Did the entire 23 mile trail to Canandaigua and back… definitely recommend a mountain bike or as I have, a decent front suspension on a hybrid with knobby size 40 tires. The final 7 miles(16-23) to Canandaigua are the best ride with mostly smoothish dirt. The roughest part are miles 11-16 to Canandaigua… spine jarring and butt banging… mostly grass and fairly rough 12 inch wide single trail over that stretch. Be prepared for fairly slow 7-8mph going… I tend to average 15 to 16 mph on the mixed gravel/pavement of the Erie canal trail between Fairport and Brockport… I averaged only about 10mph on this 46 mi. round trip. But nice scenery and time on Canandaigua lake is worth the effort as a pitstop

Rode it today. 1/2 of it is under construction. It's an easy ride, not a lot of traffic on the paved road. Beautiful scenery, it'll be great when it done.

First, I am vice-chair of Victor Hiking Trails, Inc. so have both a proprietary interest and much first hand knowledge.

As of 2020, the "missing link" in the Village of Victor has been completed. So has the sewer job that interrupted things. The full surface is back to its great stonedust finish.

There is still a gap that is under construction by East Victor and Break of Day Roads. New grading has been done and a bridge constructed. The surface is NOT yet stonedust, it is dirt and larger gravel. It is suitable for mountain bikes and foot travel. Road bikes should still take the on-road bypass. Work continues.

The Town of Farmington has completed their section. The Town of Canandaigua is in the process of securing funding before any construction.

The Town of Pittsford is working, sporadically, on their section. The condition of the trail varies widely, but is passable with some on road bypass.

The Town of Brighton has in 2021 completed their section to full, wide, stonedust surface to Highland Ave.

Signage coming into Rome traveling east, or leaving Rome traveling west, is non-existent. Expect to travel on busy city roads. Trail Links is a bit better than the Erie Canalway booklet in navigating this, but it’s still a challenge. Lots of construction in Utica and the trail east of Leland Ave is closed.

Parked at Clarence Town Park on Rt 5 in Clarence. Nicest public park restrooms I have ever seen. Thank you!!! Rode NE on the West Shore trail to the end in Akron. Wide open rural area with very little shade. Took a right on Cedar, left on Main, and right on Parkview. Probably about 2 miles on road. Food available in Akron. Very little traffic on a weekday evening. Think I was passed by only 5 cars. Gentle grades and the steepest one was a downhill on Parkview. Stretch along 93 is only a couple hundred feet on a sidewalk.

Rode NW on Peanut Line to end in East Amherst. Narrower than West Shore with some shade. Clarence Center to East Amherst had several easy street crossings and lots of walkers and dogs.

Rode back SE to Strickler Rd and headed S for about 3 miles. Fairly quiet country road. Only passed by about a dozen cars. All were very nice and gave me plenty of room. One even waited for oncoming car to clear before passing. Had a slight uphill grade to Rt 5.

Rode to the SW end of the West Shore trail. This was my favorite part. Well shaded through wetlands. I suspect it might be mosquito heaven certain times of the year.

Headed back NE to my starting spot at the park. Odometer showed 31 miles. Nothing exciting scenery-wise, but well maintained trails with great signs and milemarkers every .2 miles. Thanks.....bikin-Mike May 2021

I biked the eastern section, between Greigsville (63/Genesee St) and Peoria Rd. It appears to be used almost exclusively by 4-wheel ATVs (except for winter).

I parked at the crossroads of Federal Rd and Craig Rd. Google Maps claims there is a trailhead at Dow Rd, but there is no parking there, not even enough room to get your vehicle off the road. This website says there is a trailhead at 63/Genesee St in Greigsville, but I can't confirm that, and the satellite imagery doesn't look encouraging.

As others have noted, there is considerable ballast, at least on this section. My bike has 4.8" tires, and I had their pressure at 4 psi. With that marshmallow tires setup, the ballast was still definitely annoying but not terrible. On the large majority of bikes, this ride would probably be bad.

The wooded setting was nice.

Regarding winter use: A ranger said snowmobilers use and even groom this trail.

From the "Rochester Junction", where the northern branch of the Lehigh Valley Trail meets the main line, there are signposts marking one's progress every half mile. The first 5 miles going south to north get you to about the I-90 underpass. Right here is where the trail gets very sketchy. South of this point, the trail is mostly stone dust and would be doable on any functioning bike. Starting around the thruway, the trail seems to be torn up a bit and gets hilly for a very short wile. A road bike won't cut it, and there was standing water today on many parts. The sign at the Nevins Road outlet said "temporary" trail, though I couldn't find any permanent trail. Also, the Nevins Road outlet has barricades on it so that I needed to physically carry my bike over them in order to get it through. Someone without panniers might be able to squeeze through, but I'm not sure why they are so tight (maybe 10 inches?). Certainly my 14" dropdown handlebars didn't make it. There are a lot of crosstrails through here that aren't too confusing going south, but coming back north it might be a little more awkward. Of course, perhaps I missed something and I was supposed to bypass this area entirely??? [Ed: Nevins Rd is not a trail exit; the trail dumps on to the road for a while. Thus, presumably, all bike trail traffic will need to lift their bikes over the barricade to continue on the trail.]

The southern 5 miles is very nice, with little to no elevation change. It is wooded pretty much the entire time. In my opinion, this trail is a fine link to the (longer) southern Lehigh Valley Trail, but if you're just looking for a trail to ride, the latter is a better choice. It's more scenic and in better shape. The North Branch is, however, not by any stretch impassable, so if you're looking to make a loop or a connection by all means go for it!

This trail was a great disappointment. Very poorly maintained. When you get to the part along the river it’s horrendous. You have to be very careful because there are holes and it’s extremely rough. Will never go on the trail again

Wide trail, very active but nice ride from North Buffalo to the river!