First off — skip the northern part of the trail from the Hampton Manor Lake area if you are a biker — and start your trip at Miller Road (just of interstate 90). You will be greeted by a babbling brooks, rolling hills, and the smell of farms. As you head south through Nassau Lake you will have opportunities for food and drinks. This is a fun ride.

This trail is great. There are paved stretches (from East Greenbush to Nassau) with mostly unpaved from Chatham to Hudson (with short stretches of paved in that area). My favorite part is the Nassau area.

I congratulate all who were involved in developing this magnificent route. I rode it from Albany to Voorheesville and back. The way to Voorheesville is 9 miles of gentle up-hill grade until final few miles, which makes the return trip to Albany mostly a gentle downhill ride. This is "rail trail" at it's best!

I live this trail, especially the section from Miller Rd in Schodack to the columbia county line. It's nicely paved a few hills, but mostly flat from Nassau south. Looking forward to riding further into columbia county this year.

I enjoyed biking the trail. I was only able to do areas that construction was completed and the road sections. I used a road bike on the stone dust and did not have a problem. The spots I rode were recently completed and I wonder how the stone dust will fair over the winter. around the Kinderhook area there was a good portion available. Lots of walkers the morning I rode it. I am planning on purchasing a gravel bike with a little wider tires and this will be one of my first rides this summer. I will start in the middle and hopefully make it to both ends the same ride. I want to include both of the train stations in the video even though they are a quarter of a mile from the official endpoints.

I hope to do the complete trail and record sections with a Go Pro in June '21. It will be round trip ride, so it will be double the trail length of 35 miles.

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

Starting at nearly sea level on Busy So. Pearl st (and there is new path linking the Mowhak Hudson Trail) you enter a curve which takes you on a bridge over So Pearl, and into unfettered nature. First the Normanskill rapids, pass under the Thruway and 9W, cross an 1850s railbridge over the Normanskill, and you begin segments of a 3-5% climb thru the backwoods of Delmar, probably as the Dutch saw it in the 1600s. There is a rest area by Stewarts where it crosses Delaware. By now you climbed about 200'. Then you continue and cross under the Cherry Ave Extension, to the Slingerlands Rest area. The rest of the trail passes thru Suburban backyards and subdivisions, fields, gradual grades, finally crossing rt 155 and vly creek, and ending at Grove and So Main Street in Voorheesville, elevation 330'. There is a replica train station there.

A great paved surface perfect for inline skating or biking. A true Treasure to the community, and there is some talk in planning materials about westward expansion.

After reading the mixed reviews here about the trail being super bumpy and overrun by ATVs, my husband and I weren’t sure what to expect. We decided to risk it and really enjoyed the ride on our hybrids. We took a 24 mile there-and-back from Stamford to Bloomville in late October 2020. Weather was a bit chilly, and we saw a few walkers, who seemed like locals, one other biker, and one motorcyclist. No problem finding the trail in Stamford — it’s right at the Depot.

Pros: (1) The scenery is really nice and has a great variety. We also biked on the Ashkogan trail while vacationing in the Catskills, and while that trail is better maintained, there is a lot more to see on this ride. You basically go through farmland, by streams, through small communities. (2) It’s very flat and easy riding.

Cons: (1) The trail is decently maintained, and not nearly as bad as some reviewers have suggested, at least between Stamford/Bloomville. There were a few bumpy sections, and some sections overgrown with grass. It had rained the day before, and there were a couple of muddy patches. If you want to barrel through as fast as possible without watching the trail, this isn’t for you. But if you want to keep a moderate pace, the trail is just fine. At no point did we need to get off our bikes or find it so bumpy that it was not rideable. I would say that 85-90% of the trail is in quite good shape — kind of like biking on a country lane. (2) There are a few sections near Bloomville where the trail passes right by backyards of small houses with a lot of trash and junk in them. Just not the nicest vibe. (3) We encountered one guy on a motorbike cruising down the trail at probably 30 mph. From other reviews, seems like motorized vehicles might be more frequent at some times than others. If that’s the case, that would definitely have changed this from a really fun ride to one that I wouldn’t enjoy.

This is a lovely trail. We ride it to connect to the Champlain canal trail in waterford. The connection is on waterford streets, but very easy to negotiate, just look for the Empire State Trail signs and enjoy the empty gravel tail along the canal