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.

We rode this trail from the Seneca Lake State Park in Geneva to Waterloo and enjoyed it a great deal. Some people have said the trail is hard to find, and I think it was two years ago when we were first there. This time, though, it was simple: We entered the park at the main drive (Park Rd) off of Route 20. It costs (as of May 2021) $7 to park for 24 hours, and there is a kiosk at the entrance where you pay and get a ticket to put on your dashboard. We could have parked for free in the visitor's center, I suppose, but we thought $7 was a fair price to pay to help support the New York Park System, especially since we're not NY taxpayers.

Once we got our ticket we followed the road to the left until we saw the sign for the trail access. Just beyond it there was parking. We could have parked anywhere there--could have parked at the Welcome Center as well--and ridden the paved road along the waterfront, but we chose to ride that part the next morning. We just wanted to get on the trail since they were predicting rain.

We followed the signs to the trail. Don't be discouraged by the path that leads to the trail itself--it is ballast (difficult for me to ride in) followed by a boardwalk type of path that leads over the railroad track and under the highway. It's not bad, but I was envisioning an entire trail like this and wasn't thrilled. After we got past that very short section, though, the trail became packed limestone dust and it was a joy to ride on. Good exercise but not over-challenging for two folks in their early 60s with hybrid bikes. From this point to Waterloo is only about 4.5 to 5 miles. (Apparently the 10 mile distance shown in TrailLink includes the paved path around the north end of Seneca Lake.

We road to Waterloo, saw the canal lock, and rode back on a nice level, well-maintained trail. It should be said that the trail rises slightly from Waterloo to Geneva, so the return trip was slightly more strenuous than the outbound trip, but the incline really is very slight.

Just as we got back to Geneva it began to rain so we left for the day. We returned the next morning (we still had time left on our parking pass) and bicycled along the northern end of Seneca Lake. It's a wide, asphalt path that was quiet in the morning (a few joggers). The views were lovely and we rode the length twice. At one end (beyond the visitor's center) there is a tunnel that leads under the road and into Geneva, so if you wanted to ride into town it would be easy. The visitor's center itself, by the way, is lovely with good food and a lot of places to sit and just enjoy the lake view.

Parked at Clarence Town Park on Rt 5 in Clarence. Nicest public park restrooms I have ever seen. Thank you!!! Rode NE on the West Shore trail to the end in Akron. Wide open rural area with very little shade. Took a right on Cedar, left on Main, and right on Parkview. Probably about 2 miles on road. Food available in Akron. Very little traffic on a weekday evening. Think I was passed by only 5 cars. Gentle grades and the steepest one was a downhill on Parkview. Stretch along 93 is only a couple hundred feet on a sidewalk.

Rode NW on Peanut Line to end in East Amherst. Narrower than West Shore with some shade. Clarence Center to East Amherst had several easy street crossings and lots of walkers and dogs.

Rode back SE to Strickler Rd and headed S for about 3 miles. Fairly quiet country road. Only passed by about a dozen cars. All were very nice and gave me plenty of room. One even waited for oncoming car to clear before passing. Had a slight uphill grade to Rt 5.

Rode to the SW end of the West Shore trail. This was my favorite part. Well shaded through wetlands. I suspect it might be mosquito heaven certain times of the year.

Headed back NE to my starting spot at the park. Odometer showed 31 miles. Nothing exciting scenery-wise, but well maintained trails with great signs and milemarkers every .2 miles. Thanks.....bikin-Mike May 2021

So much to see. Old mill, waterfalls and the creek is beautiful. There are places to stop and rest and picnic. Portable toilets available along the way. Great ride. Definitely will ride again.

I biked the eastern section, between Greigsville (63/Genesee St) and Peoria Rd. It appears to be used almost exclusively by 4-wheel ATVs (except for winter).

I parked at the crossroads of Federal Rd and Craig Rd. Google Maps claims there is a trailhead at Dow Rd, but there is no parking there, not even enough room to get your vehicle off the road. This website says there is a trailhead at 63/Genesee St in Greigsville, but I can't confirm that, and the satellite imagery doesn't look encouraging.

As others have noted, there is considerable ballast, at least on this section. My bike has 4.8" tires, and I had their pressure at 4 psi. With that marshmallow tires setup, the ballast was still definitely annoying but not terrible. On the large majority of bikes, this ride would probably be bad.

The wooded setting was nice.

Regarding winter use: A ranger said snowmobilers use and even groom this trail.

From the "Rochester Junction", where the northern branch of the Lehigh Valley Trail meets the main line, there are signposts marking one's progress every half mile. The first 5 miles going south to north get you to about the I-90 underpass. Right here is where the trail gets very sketchy. South of this point, the trail is mostly stone dust and would be doable on any functioning bike. Starting around the thruway, the trail seems to be torn up a bit and gets hilly for a very short wile. A road bike won't cut it, and there was standing water today on many parts. The sign at the Nevins Road outlet said "temporary" trail, though I couldn't find any permanent trail. Also, the Nevins Road outlet has barricades on it so that I needed to physically carry my bike over them in order to get it through. Someone without panniers might be able to squeeze through, but I'm not sure why they are so tight (maybe 10 inches?). Certainly my 14" dropdown handlebars didn't make it. There are a lot of crosstrails through here that aren't too confusing going south, but coming back north it might be a little more awkward. Of course, perhaps I missed something and I was supposed to bypass this area entirely??? [Ed: Nevins Rd is not a trail exit; the trail dumps on to the road for a while. Thus, presumably, all bike trail traffic will need to lift their bikes over the barricade to continue on the trail.]

The southern 5 miles is very nice, with little to no elevation change. It is wooded pretty much the entire time. In my opinion, this trail is a fine link to the (longer) southern Lehigh Valley Trail, but if you're just looking for a trail to ride, the latter is a better choice. It's more scenic and in better shape. The North Branch is, however, not by any stretch impassable, so if you're looking to make a loop or a connection by all means go for it!

Great asphalt trail. A lot of signage to explain where you are. Numerous benches for rest stops. A nice eatery at the end of trail in Clarence Center.

I live close to one of the sections of the trail so I walk it with my dog often. But we also venture out to the other parts. I’ve actually done all of it twice with many sections much more. It’s a great trail for walking a dog. There are some really beautiful parts and I am looking forward to seeing them through all of the seasons.

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