My sons live near this and took me. It was a great ride during the pandemic to get a break from being indoors. Very well planned.

As a dog runner, I have been on most of the local paths. I avoid this one whenever possible. It is way too narrow with little room to pull my dog off to the side when other dogs are approaching. There’s also a lot of dog poop not picked up along the edges, which is ridiculous since they provide bags.

Buffalo can get a bad rap, but this is nice trail along the shoreline and then into town. We did it Labor Day on a perfect day and could not believe how nice Buffalo has been upgraded. Obviously you got to catch good weather which can be a challenge there, but was worth the ride.

This awesome trail starts at the tennis courts inside a subdivision. It is a little hard to find but so worth it. The beginning of the path is like taking a hike through the words (but with asphalt). It is so beautiful. You do have to cross some street then and the path takes you over by the gorge. The path is curvy and goes by lovely houses. At some points you have to go into the street by Youngstown. At that point you can ride into Ft. Niagara and enjoy the park. This is such a lovely ride and not very busy.

Rode one way approx 7 miles starting in Amsterdam. While pedaling under the thruway overpass, it smelled like feces/urine. This area has an abandoned building and an adjacent overgrown wareyard with debris piles, junk and very weedy. Approx 1/3 mile past the overpass we stopped to look at map and weather app (the clouds were looking ominous) and I see a large man riding toward us (up until that point we saw no-one else on the trail). As he passed us grunting and snarling at us, I noticed he was filthy with dirty hair and face. He rode past us and less than 30 seconds later when I looked down the trail, he had disappeared into the brush (this is a straightaway section - you can see a long way). We turned around and within 10 minutes the downpour was upon us. We were soaked when we arrived back in am-dam.

My advice: do not pedal this section by the overpass alone. This man had no good reason to pursue us, then growl/grunt when passing us and then disappear back into the brush. If I had been solo riding, I can only speculate on a different outcome. He is living under/by the overpass. We apparently pedaled thru his "area".

My wife and I visited Buffalo from our home town 2.5 hours away on Sep. 1, 2019 with the primary purpose of riding this trail. I can't say the ride was worth the car trip. We started at the northern end of the trail in Tonawanda . For the first few miles, it went right along the Niagara River, with beautiful views. Then it moved inland and went through an industrial area, but it was still interesting, at least to an engineer like me. At Sheridan Dr, we encountered the first disappointment. A sign said the trail was closed ahead. We checked, and it was indeed definitely closed off with a chain link fence. One small sign indicated a detour, but it seemed to point to the entrance ramp of I-190, where another sign said bicycles forbidden, as expected! Fortunately, a local cyclist passing by pointed us to the correct detour on River Rd, which was quite unattractive. Shortly after returning to the trail via an overpass over I-190, another closure sent us again on inland streets. Finally, we came up to a third closure on Niagara St. just before Unity Island. This time, there was not even a sign indicating a detour. We had had enough with the closures and the ugly city streets, so we just turned around and rode back to our starting point. This will be a much better trail when the closures are eliminated, and it would be a 5-start trail if more of it went along the river. The real gem would be extending it north to the Falls, which at present, can only be reached via a maize of city streets. (We tried, but got lost and gave up.)

Nice trail along the lake and into Buffalo. But busy in weekends.

The trail provides a great peaceful, scenic adventure through the natural greenspace along the Robert Moses and around Lower River Road.
However, its condition has deteriorated over the years and has several unsafe locations if roller blading or biking.
Are there any future plans to update?

This is the first of a multi-part review, since the trail is so long. It takes me and hour and a half to drive from New Paltz, NY to one of the parking areas.

Last year I rode the section from the Corning Center in Albany along the Hudson River to end at a parking lot in Watervaliet. Right next to the the river, there is a lot to see and hear on this paved trail, as the highway is sometimes very close. There are plenty of areas to stop and touch the water while on a break. Just do it sometime anytime. I would like to revisit this section after the leaves have fallen, just before winter.

Last month I rode from the through the Albany suburbs of Watervaliet, Green Island, and Cahoes. Though it is fairly flat and well paved, it is totally on-street section of the trail. One nice side trip is north up to Waterford, which goes over several bridges to Van Schaich Island and Peebles Island. When you cross the steel bridge you can see the beginning of the actual canal and its first lock near the Waterford Harbor Visitor Center. Just go down Cannon Street.

Last week, Tuesday August 20, 2019 I went to the section that includes the towns of Latham and Colonie, turning around at Lock 7 on the Mohawk River. This is a very nice section of the trail, good pavement, mostly shady and offers a few nice views of the Mohawk River. There is a short on-road section in Dunsbach Ferry where you ride underneath Route 87. Then a significant hill back to the trail. Headed west, from the Lions Park in Niskayuna ( a good parking area) there is one very straight and flat section of about a mile or so for time-keepers and racers. Lock #7 is a pleasant park to stop for a break and watch the boats navigate the rise or fall of the lock, next to a waterfall.

It may take several years for me to complete the entire Erie Canal trail, but it is a fun goal.