Explore the best rated trails in Niagara Falls, NY, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Niagara Scenic Parkway Trail and Great Gorge Railway Trail . With more than 24 trails covering 472 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.
Convenient street crossings with traffic signals. Not too busy, so it was a nice quiet ride across town. Nice and green, lots of benches along the route to stop and rest. Very clean.
About a 45 minute ride on the Erie Canal path ,starting at the Medina lift bridge, through farmland and villages (Middleport, Gasport) herons that are absolutely not afraid of you! Beautiful in the fall!
We did not see any asphalt. This trail is not for biking or on line skating. It is all grass and there is no parking except on the road.
First time riding with little time invested in pre-study. Parked near Gallagher Beach. I ended up going past nature preserve before realizing that I needed to first go south to cross and go north. In downtown, construction caused some detours which also got me lost at the Erie Basin Marina and a little more into downtown. I needed to refer to map too often, which suggests signage in not adequate and obvious.
Once I got north of downtown, the route became more intuitive and obvious to follow even through a park that was under reconstruction and required a detour. A fair stretch was in a dedicated and protected bike lane along Niagra Street which was simple and comfortable.
I went as far north as Tonawanda and the trail in this northernmost section was in great shape, well designated and quite scenic along the Niagra River.
Rode on a Friday afternoon and although a fair number of people were out enjoying the day, none of the trail was ever to congested to ride at a fair pace.
*PLEASE NOTE that the portion from Bridge Street to the Onondaga Creek, Syracuse NEEDS UPDATING on the Trail map, as connecting trail is now available and this isn't reflected in the map.* Today was our 3rd ride (each out and back) on this trail, completing the section from Port Byron to the Inner Harbor in Syracuse. Today's ride in nice weather was 21 miles round trip to the Camillus Museum from Syracuse. We enjoyed the museum and the newer section that is paved along the west side of Onondaga Lake from the Fair Grounds parking area to the south part of the lake. We did miss a turn heading up the hill to turn off the trail to the parking area so we could cross 690; not sure there was clear signage on that; there was going back down. We were able to go through the portion on the NYS Fairgrounds and noted that this is not open to biking during the colder months (I believe Oct-April 1); it wouldn't be hard to go around, but signage would be helpful on that, too. Signs for this portion of the Empire State Trail were quite good otherwise. Since we haven't had much rain in the past month, trail conditions were excellent on today's portion. Least favorite was the road portion (or "sidewalk ride") on Hiawatha Blvd as it was very busy. Parts of the portion we did today is hillier than most sections; it was not difficult for us "intermediate level" bikers, but parts wouldn't be the best for younger children or somebody who hadn't biked in a while.
Starting in Colonie in the parking lot on rt9 it was a great ride headed towards Schenectady. Smooth paved surface. A little on a local road but minimal car traffic and clearly marked. Plenty of bench’s and stopping areas along the way.
We have biked this trail many times now and will always be my favorite! Lots of scenery and bridges to cross, also a few fun curves! Also it's nice to take a ride through Ellicott Creek Park!
Trail is not very well kept. Several large piles of dumped household items, garbage and tires all along the trail. No markings or signs. Would not suggest this one.
Did a small section from Jordan to Solvay. Nice Ride about 14.5 miles on a cooler sunny day. Muddy in a couple spots. Hope to complete more sections soon ¿¿¿
Grew up in Tonawanda walking the train tracks when this was active rail line- website description states a northern terminus at State and Young Streets in Tonawanda- actually, cross Young Street and continue north on an old train trestle across Ellicott Creek and the trail will end at Fillmore Avenue- make a left under the Tonawanda Viaduct train trestle and follow this for less than a mile to the trail that follows the old Erie Canal and downtown Tonawanda and North Tonawanda (restaurants and bathrooms).
My partner and I did a circuit this past summer around Buffalo- went south on the Tonawanda Rails to Trail, making a stop at Anderson's on Sheridan Drive near the trail for some of their famous homemade ice cream (and a bathroom break!). Continued down the trail to its southern terminus in Buffalo at Shoshone Park. Overall, the path was well paved and smooth, fairly level- Not very scenic- passing by light industrial areas and through residential neighborhoods.
Made our way east on Hertel Avenue over to and south down Main Street (admittedly on the sidewalk- road is rough) to Amherst Street- at this point, you could enter the Amherst Station for the Metro Rail and ride the subway with your bike downtown and to Canalside- we chose instead to head westward through the Parkside neighborhood on Amherst
Street and along Delaware Park, turning on Nottingham Terrace where we caught the Jesse Kregal Pathway westward along Scajaquada Creek. Some surface street riding got us to dedicated bike lanes on Niagara Street going south, eventually connecting to the Shoreline Trail just north of the Peace Bridge. Weaved our way down to and through Canalside and worked our way through an industrial area along Ganson Street (should have been along Ohio Street but had to turn around as then Ohio Street lift bridge was closed for repairs- saving grace was the aroma of baking Wheaties at the General Mills factory!). Finally went under the NY 5 overpass to the entrance of Buffalo Harbor State Park. At this point we retraced our steps back north along the Shoreline Trail, all the way back to Tonawanda and the start of the trail.
Whew! 39 miles, mostly in the rain but it comes with the territory in Buffalo.
Yes, Buffalo is a Rust Belt city, but it is experiencing a resurgence of sorts- obviously you will need cross country skis in the winter but bring the bike in the spring, summer or fall to really experience the city, and make a detour to see the Falls.
Make sure to watch when you get about 1/2 way to buffalo for the trail has changed make sure to watch road markings.
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