Explore the best rated trails in Utica, NY. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Verona Beach State Park Rail Trail and Oswego County Trail. With more than 10 trails covering 355 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.
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This trail follows the Black River Canal Towpath that links Boonville to Foresport. Running from Erwin Park at Boonville to Alder Pond at Forestport, it is a quiet walk or bike trip through woods and...
Verona Beach State Park is located on the eastern shore of Oneida Lake. Shaded picnic areas and the campground are adjacent to the beach with an excellent view of the water. The lake, Black Creek,...
When complete, the Erie Canalway Trail will run for 360 miles in upstate New York—from Buffalo in the west to Albany in the east—linking many other communities along the way, including Rochester,...
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The Philip A. Rayhill Memorial Recreational Trail is part of the New Hartford & Whitestown Rail Trail system (NH & W). The 4-mile asphalt trail links the two towns and roughly parallels Route 840...
The Mohawk River Trail is a pleasant, shared use pathway connecting residential sites, local parks & schools, historical sites and business districts within the city of Rome, New York. At its southern...
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The Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Rail-Trail (FJ&G) has one main section and one shorter section. The main segment runs for nearly 8 miles between Union Avenue in Johnstown and the intersection of...
The South Trail stretches over 2 miles between Ballina Rd. and New Woodstock in Cazenovia, New York. The trail sits on the former right-of-way of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The rail-trail takes users...
This trail follows the Black River Canal Towpath that links Boonville to Foresport. Running from Erwin Park at Boonville to Alder Pond at Forestport, it is a quiet walk or bike trip through woods and...
The Oswego County Trail follows an abandoned right-of-way of the old New York Ontario & Western Railroad between Cleveland and Fulton. The trail passes among scenic countryside on a sometimes rough...
The South Trail stretches over 2 miles between Ballina Rd. and New Woodstock in Cazenovia, New York. The trail sits on the former right-of-way of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The rail-trail takes users...
When complete, the Erie Canalway Trail will run for 360 miles in upstate New York—from Buffalo in the west to Albany in the east—linking many other communities along the way, including Rochester,...
The Mohawk River Trail is a pleasant, shared use pathway connecting residential sites, local parks & schools, historical sites and business districts within the city of Rome, New York. At its southern...
The Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Rail-Trail (FJ&G) has one main section and one shorter section. The main segment runs for nearly 8 miles between Union Avenue in Johnstown and the intersection of...
The Gorge Trail is makes for a scenic walk or mountain bike ride near the town of Cazenovia. The trail runs between the old railroad buildings on William Street and Bingley Road to the north. From...
The Philip A. Rayhill Memorial Recreational Trail is part of the New Hartford & Whitestown Rail Trail system (NH & W). The 4-mile asphalt trail links the two towns and roughly parallels Route 840...
The first mile of the nearly 12-mile planned Oneida Rail Trail opened in September 2014 between Hubbard Place and Lenox Avenue on the west side of Oneida. The trail runs through woodlands on an old...
Verona Beach State Park is located on the eastern shore of Oneida Lake. Shaded picnic areas and the campground are adjacent to the beach with an excellent view of the water. The lake, Black Creek,...
The South Trail stretches over 2 miles between Ballina Rd. and New Woodstock in Cazenovia, New York. The trail sits on the former right-of-way of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The rail-trail takes users...
The Mohawk River Trail is a pleasant, shared use pathway connecting residential sites, local parks & schools, historical sites and business districts within the city of Rome, New York. At its southern...
When complete, the Erie Canalway Trail will run for 360 miles in upstate New York—from Buffalo in the west to Albany in the east—linking many other communities along the way, including Rochester,...
This trail follows the Black River Canal Towpath that links Boonville to Foresport. Running from Erwin Park at Boonville to Alder Pond at Forestport, it is a quiet walk or bike trip through woods and...
The Gorge Trail is makes for a scenic walk or mountain bike ride near the town of Cazenovia. The trail runs between the old railroad buildings on William Street and Bingley Road to the north. From...
The Philip A. Rayhill Memorial Recreational Trail is part of the New Hartford & Whitestown Rail Trail system (NH & W). The 4-mile asphalt trail links the two towns and roughly parallels Route 840...
The Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Rail-Trail (FJ&G) has one main section and one shorter section. The main segment runs for nearly 8 miles between Union Avenue in Johnstown and the intersection of...
Verona Beach State Park is located on the eastern shore of Oneida Lake. Shaded picnic areas and the campground are adjacent to the beach with an excellent view of the water. The lake, Black Creek,...
The Oswego County Trail follows an abandoned right-of-way of the old New York Ontario & Western Railroad between Cleveland and Fulton. The trail passes among scenic countryside on a sometimes rough...
The first mile of the nearly 12-mile planned Oneida Rail Trail opened in September 2014 between Hubbard Place and Lenox Avenue on the west side of Oneida. The trail runs through woodlands on an old...
We startes in Amsterdam,we parked on a dirt section on Cleveland Ave,little further down is a bigger paved lot.We did a little detour on Bridge Rd,nice pedestrian bridge(flowers & a few interesting sculptures.) Rode into Riverlink Park. Small park,but a cute little detour. Most of the trail was paved,there was a section that was bumpy.Pretty flat. About 4-5 miles was crushed stone/dirt.If it rained heavy may get muddy.We enjoyed the trail,a few street crossings.Was a pretty quite trail on a sunday.Was a mix of shade & sun. We seen some wildlife,seen a fisher & what looked like a weasel,was so quick.,so that was cool!.We rode to Sparkers. There was a cooler of waters & there was bathrooms across the street.(Courtesy of the church)We rode about 44 miles there & back,with detour. The trail is broken up into sections,so we rode this section. Hope to ride the Buffalo section..
We rode this trail in two sections both in the Rochester New York area. Our first mini trip was a 20 mile run between Brockport and Rochester New York and the next day another mini run between Brockport and Albion New York. This trail rocks. Great views along the canal, Very friendly people in the many towns along the way who welcome cyclist. Many accommodations along the trail as well. Our favorite towns were Brockport and Albion. These are old canal towns that have kept there history. The trail offers great views is hugging the canal and offers some shade however the areas we rode were mostly open sunny areas. I have traveled on many canal trails and this trail did not fail. The trail is well marked has a town every 4 to 6 miles.We will return to do the entire trail soon.
I intended to start my ride in Little Falls and even though I could see the trail here and there, I wasn't able to find a sign for parking. I kept going until I got to Herkimer Home where I knew there was parking. Behind Herkimer Home is the trail. I went west to Little Falls. The trail was excellent and well maintained. Parts of it were asphalt and parts were not paved, but I had no difficulties. The trail in this section was in better shape than I expected give this past winter and wet, wet spring.
I can't wait for the whole Erie Canalway Trail to finally be pieced together. What an amenity. Even though some pieces of the trail aren't far from the highway, the trail is enclosed by trees and vegetation so you don't see the cars and trucks. The vegetation also buffers out the noise.
The only thing that I would suggest and I hope that NYS Parks does is to put in mileage signs and some education signs along the way. I passed several manmade features that I wasn't sure what the original purpose was for. Maybe locals know their canal history, but visitors probably won't.
This was my first time triking on the F,J&G trail. The trail is well maintained and has many things to see that make it interesting. My favorite section is at the southern end where the trail parallels a stream set in a gorge. That section is wooded and has nice views. Many reviews say that there are many street crossings. That is true but I didn’t find that onerous. My only complaint is the lack of public bathrooms which is becoming more important as I get older. There is a Price Chopper next to the trail which makes for a nice stoping point for bathrooms and food.
I start at the parking area and run to middle settlement road and back, it is perfect if you like short runs. On warmer days there are lots of people you have to run around, but that's actually good thing! Glad to see people getting out and having a great paved trail like this really helps!
This section is very fragmented. You have to walk on the road for long distances. It’s really too bad because there is so much canal history in this stretch I would love to be able to walk it.
About 5 miles of newly paved trail has been open east of Amsterdam to Pattersonville. It is a really nice ride along the river.
We started from the park in Boonville rode to Forrestport. We had a picnic lunch overlooking the lake and rode back to the park. The only thing to mention is the gates across the trail. Where the trail crossed public roads gates have been installed to stop ATVs. We had to walk around about 4 or 5 gates. We were told that they would be open for snowmobiles this winter.
Although this Bike Path is scenic, it is NOT maintained, it is continues wide cracks in the pavement and huge bumps. I already saw a couple bickers fall because of the neglected pavement. Not only do you risk a fall because of the neglect, you also risk damage to your tires as the bumps & cracks are severe. I have a Road Bike, and changed my tires because of the bumps, also note the bumps also can shift your gears.
I've ridden this section for more than 30 years with no flats. New aggregate has been laid down in this section over the last three weeks. It sparkles in the sun. I've had five flats on the new surface. Each was caused by a tiny glass shard, some clear some brown. The workers said they were putting down crushed limestone. It seems to there may be recycled glass in the mix. I'm running Schwalbe G one 700x60 tires at 30# rear 25# front. It's an admittedly light tire but I've had no problem with flats elsewhere including rough gravel roads. Go belted or tubeless on this section or be prepared to flat. Without the nice smooth new surface I'd have given this trail four stars.
Six older couples cycling from East Syracuse to Albany in May, just before the Canal opened. Advantage: Lots of camping. Disadvantage: no boats to watch in the locks and towns. The book was pleasantly wrong and needs a wee bit of an update with the wonderful new additions, trail re-locations, and especially attractions. There was much less on-road cycling than we had worried about. The drivers on the road were suitably accommodating. We camped some nights and stayed in motels as the mood and weather might indicate. When we got to Amsterdam, NY, however, we slept in a CASTLE!! The Amsterdam Castle, a mere 800' from the trail was amazing and worth the few dollars more than the chain motels we had stayed at. There was a breakfast and wonderful rooms. The artwork was worth a museum entrance fee. Everything was AMAZING! We enjoyed a nice meal at Parillo's Italian Restaurant (go through through the Armory Bar and Grill and take a left). Another fun culinary highlight of the ride was Mike's Diner in Fultonville. It's just under the highway on the left. Great food, great fun. Very entertaining proprietor and a fair price. Now, the areas that need improvement: Only one or two cross streets were signed. There were virtually no signs for important trail-side amenities, like, lodging, camping, ice cream, groceries, repair shops, ice cream, attractions, or restaurants with ice cream. [The Great Allegheny Passage really got that right.] ECT should take a look. There were no trail-side tool set-ups like on the Norwootuck or GAP trails. Those were nice. Some of the really cool attractions, like the first bike ridden cross-country, a huge high-wheeler, is in the second floor of a darling historical society in Henniker. Each local Chamber of Commerce should be all over this trail. As multi-day trails go, this one had the most to offer in scenery and museums, but they were often not in the book and hard. We only knew about them from prior research and our AAA Guide. Rome and Fort Stanwix not withstanding. We broke a chain on the tandem in Schenectedy. One bike shop, Plaine and Sons, fortunately has a mobile service van. We called them and explained the issue, and they don't actually use the van. It's basically just a sign. We went to NY Bike on Congress, where an efficient young man repaired the bike in less than five minutes. If an establishment isn't really going to support the trail, they should not be mentioned. My advice would be double your time from other trails of the same length and see the sights which lie not far off the trail. This ride is more of an adventure and less of just a bike ride. To just ride it is to miss the mark. Hope some of this helps. Happy trails.
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