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 13 trails covering 361 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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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...
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The Philip A. Rayhill Memorial Recreational Trail is part of the New Hartford & Whitestown Rail Trail system (NH & W). The 5-mile asphalt trail links the two towns and roughly parallels Route 840...
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,...
Bear Trap Creek Bikeway follows the creek of the same name between Ley Creek Drive and the Mattydale Shopping Plaza. For most of its length it parallels Interstate 81, with a fence separating the...
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...
While many other rail trails in rural New York have gravel or grass surfaces, which make them difficult to traverse for cyclists and users with disabilities, the Lenox Rail Trail offers over two miles...
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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...
This paved trail is located on the west side of the North-South Arterial that runs through Utica New York. The trail provides a non-driving option for folks to travel through the city and a pedestrian...
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 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...
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...
Bear Trap Creek Bikeway follows the creek of the same name between Ley Creek Drive and the Mattydale Shopping Plaza. For most of its length it parallels Interstate 81, with a fence separating the...
This paved trail is located on the west side of the North-South Arterial that runs through Utica New York. The trail provides a non-driving option for folks to travel through the city and a pedestrian...
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 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 Philip A. Rayhill Memorial Recreational Trail is part of the New Hartford & Whitestown Rail Trail system (NH & W). The 5-mile asphalt trail links the two towns and roughly parallels Route 840...
While many other rail trails in rural New York have gravel or grass surfaces, which make them difficult to traverse for cyclists and users with disabilities, the Lenox Rail Trail offers over two miles...
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 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...
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 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...
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...
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,...
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 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...
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 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 Philip A. Rayhill Memorial Recreational Trail is part of the New Hartford & Whitestown Rail Trail system (NH & W). The 5-mile asphalt trail links the two towns and roughly parallels Route 840...
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...
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...
While many other rail trails in rural New York have gravel or grass surfaces, which make them difficult to traverse for cyclists and users with disabilities, the Lenox Rail Trail offers over two miles...
This paved trail is located on the west side of the North-South Arterial that runs through Utica New York. The trail provides a non-driving option for folks to travel through the city and a pedestrian...
Bear Trap Creek Bikeway follows the creek of the same name between Ley Creek Drive and the Mattydale Shopping Plaza. For most of its length it parallels Interstate 81, with a fence separating the...
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 trail was well maintained but there were too many cross walks. Some of the areas were very run down. Shopping carts dumped in the creek and garbage. Buildings falling down along the way. Unfortunately, a sign of the times in upstate New York. Same for my area.
Group of four biked the trail on 9/16 and had a wonderful time. We started in Boonville and enjoyed the scenery and ended in Forestport. The Forestport end has some significant puddles, but the trip is well worth it. Bonus is the local Forestport Dinner nearby offering coffee and fresh donuts. Also picnic tables available along the river between the trail end and the village of Forestport.
2021: Biked the Erie Canal trail from Buffalo to Cohoes. Well worth the time. And mostly a very pleasant experience, with just a few caveats. Trail improvements are ongoing and signage along the trail is not always up to date, so check your route carefully, especially where it is on-road. The initial section from downtown Buffalo is grungy city streets, but that improves with a great, mostly off-road trail all the way to Lyons. Lockport to Spencerport is fairly exposed, but from there on to Lyons is generally pleasantly green and shaded. From Clyde to Port Byron and through Syracuse were onroad and not always clearly signed and were the least pleasant. From the east side of Syracuse all the way to Cohoes was a delightful and beautiful ride, with the exception of finding one's way onroad and with poor signage through Rome. All in all (despite my caveats) a good, local, human-powered bucket-list endeavor, with thanks to all the communities along the way and everyone maintaining and improving and filling the gaps in the trail.
We rode from this trail on hybrids and enjoyed the experience. Was pretty flat with a few spots of incline/decline. The pavement was generally good, with a few spots with bumps or cracks from weathering. There were a lot of road crossings so we had to be careful. Very scenic, we rode thru a couple of towns, and saw a lot of older abandoned factories (Louis Meyer Make Gloves). Seems like a great local resource.
We completed this trail ride in July 2021, two adults and two kids(9 and 8). We were very concerned with the lack of local vehicles not following right of way laws. We became frustrated after only going a few miles(from north parking area into Town of Gloversville) and crossing at 17 different Road crossings. This stop and go was tedious and took enjoyment out of the ride.
It seems as though automobiles have the right of way with many poorly marked crosswalks throughout this trail. If you are willing to surrender the right of way you will enjoy surviving this picturesque trail.
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.
The trail in Cleveland has had serious construction while water lines are put down. East of Cleveland the trail is closed, but west is open but pretty bumpy due to ruts. We didn't find a designated parking area so we parked roadside. It was a nice enough ride, no other bikers but frequent ATVs. Lots of birds, open fields and woods but there are nicer trails. We had a surprise - the Grace Tyler Winery is adjacent to the trail and we took a break there.
The creek is pretty nice, but overshadowed most of the way by the adjacent noisy interstate. Also, much of the asphalt has tree roots running under it, causing the trail to be quite bumpy.
New off road section was created along Broadway in Albany after coming out of the tunnel. Watch for the signs for the Empire Trail also
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