Explore the best rated trails in Elmira, NY. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Pine Creek Rail Trail and Dryden Rail Trail . With more than 17 trails covering 135 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
We rode this trail on October 9-10/2022 to see the colorful leaves. Nice trail with a beautiful setting along the Pine Creek. Parking was limited at the Blackwell trail head.
From the beginning we got after a mile or so. Lacking in signage and painted bike markings on the road. We gave up after a few miles after getting lost a few times .
Some beautiful parts of the trail. However, in many places the trail is poorly marked and the southern end (3-4 miles), requires some technical skill. It’s probably fine for hiking. Stick with the northern portion, e.g., Watkins Glen or Montour Falls for about 8 miles south.
I rode the length of the Catharine Valley Trail in both directions. It's a very average trail. It's basically a crushed stone surface through the woods without anything to distinguish it from a thousand other trails. Signage is fair - there are a few places where a sign indicating the direction to the trail would have been helpful, but after fumbling around for a couple minutes you can figure it out. Portions of the trail follow Rt. 14, so there's a fair amount of traffic noise. There are a few points of interest in Watkins Glen and Montour Falls at the far north end, but other than that, there's really nothing else to see when you're on the trail. I would not recommend making this a "destination" trail - it's really not worth it. I would only suggest using it if you intend to bike from Watkins Glen down to Horseheads or Elmira. The trail allows you to avoid Rt. 14, which, although a designated New York State bike route with ample shoulders, has heavy high-speed traffic.
This trail is well marked and goes along the highway. nothing interesting. Good for quick ride during evening .
Great ride and well maintained trail. Pack sandwich as there are number of spots on the way. Waterfall is the hidden gem!
My wife and I are railfans, and we're always looking for railroadiana on a rail-trail. This one .... not so much. We found a code pole tilted over into the stream, an original 1926 railroad culvert, and the bridge over Hills Creek. Speaking of which, the trail per se ends at the west where an access road takes off to the south. West of there it's overgrown, although there's a herd path to the bridge over Hills Creek. It's too overgrown to make way past the bridge, with prickers and stickers.
As others note, the trail is rocky and bumpy (for wheeled users) and open to motorized vehicles. Some of them were polite and drove past us hikers slowly, but the four-wheelers didn't slow down and choked us with their dust, reinforcing the incompatibility between motorized and non-motorized users of trails.
That said, it is shady and runs alongside Crooked Creek for much of the way.
Rode this trail as an out-and-back on 5/17/22 starting at the southern trailhead at the Ithaca Children’s Garden (also has easy access to a paved trail to Cass Park and the Cayuga Waterfront Trail). This is a great trail for anything other than a road bike that gently ascends to the northern trailhead in beautiful Taughannock Falls State Park where the old railroad trestle across Taughannock Creek serves as a viewpoint and a short ride will take you to the Taughannock Falls Overlook View Point.
Road this trail as an out-and-back on 5/17/22 starting at the southern trailhead (not shown on TrailLink but it was added to Google Maps) that shares a parking area with the Ek Birding Trail on Huck Finn Road. The first mile or so north is a bit rough buy fully ridable. This is a great trail for anything other than a road bike with access to multiple waterfalls along the way, especially the northern part, and beautiful Watkins Glen State Park on the northern end.
We rode ebikes from Montour to Watkins Glen school area. Pretty ride, well maintained.
It’s a fun little trail to walk or bike down and have fun with your friends, nothing too crazy but in the summer or fall it can be very beautiful!
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