Find the top rated bike trails in Ithaca, whether you're looking for an easy short bike trail or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a bike trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
If you are near Corning, New York, and need a nice walk, check out this charming respite. The Painted Post Trail connects schools, playgrounds, other trails and residential neighborhoods west of...
The Vestal Rail Trail runs for nearly four miles through the town of Vestal along an abandoned right-of-way once used by the Delaware–Lackawana & Western Railroad. Today, the 12-foot-wide trail is...
The South Hill Recreation Way follows the southern rim of the Six Mile Creek gorge from the outskirts of southeast Ithaca to Burns Road, near the Ithaca Reservoir. The gravel path follows the former...
The East Ithaca Recreation Way on East Hill is primarily built upon the rail bed of the old Ithaca and Cortland Railroad, which later became part of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The trail skirts the...
The Cayuga-Seneca Canalway Trail is a 5-mile pathway beginning in Waterloo, New York and terminating at Seneca Lake State Park. The roadbed it uses was constructed by the Seneca County Railway...
The Keuka Outlet Trail offers a sinuous route of nearly 7 miles between Penn Yan and Dresden in New York’s Finger Lakes region. The rail-trail follows a railroad corridor that traced a former canal...
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 Lackawanna Rail Trail traces a short stretch of the old Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad from Lowman to Elmira in southern New York. Much of it follows the meandering Chemung River, meaning...
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...
Enjoy a smooth ride along the Catharine Valley Trail, a well-maintained multiuse pathway that provides a comfortable and shaded biking experience through Upstate New York. High points include entering...
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 Cayuga-Seneca Canalway Trail is a 5-mile pathway beginning in Waterloo, New York and terminating at Seneca Lake State Park. The roadbed it uses was constructed by the Seneca County Railway...
The South Hill Recreation Way follows the southern rim of the Six Mile Creek gorge from the outskirts of southeast Ithaca to Burns Road, near the Ithaca Reservoir. The gravel path follows the former...
Enjoy a smooth ride along the Catharine Valley Trail, a well-maintained multiuse pathway that provides a comfortable and shaded biking experience through Upstate New York. High points include entering...
The East Ithaca Recreation Way on East Hill is primarily built upon the rail bed of the old Ithaca and Cortland Railroad, which later became part of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The trail skirts the...
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...
If you are near Corning, New York, and need a nice walk, check out this charming respite. The Painted Post Trail connects schools, playgrounds, other trails and residential neighborhoods west 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...
The Vestal Rail Trail runs for nearly four miles through the town of Vestal along an abandoned right-of-way once used by the Delaware–Lackawana & Western Railroad. Today, the 12-foot-wide trail is...
The Lackawanna Rail Trail traces a short stretch of the old Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad from Lowman to Elmira in southern New York. Much of it follows the meandering Chemung River, meaning...
The Keuka Outlet Trail offers a sinuous route of nearly 7 miles between Penn Yan and Dresden in New York’s Finger Lakes region. The rail-trail follows a railroad corridor that traced a former canal...
The East Ithaca Recreation Way on East Hill is primarily built upon the rail bed of the old Ithaca and Cortland Railroad, which later became part of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The trail skirts the...
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 South Hill Recreation Way follows the southern rim of the Six Mile Creek gorge from the outskirts of southeast Ithaca to Burns Road, near the Ithaca Reservoir. The gravel path follows the former...
If you are near Corning, New York, and need a nice walk, check out this charming respite. The Painted Post Trail connects schools, playgrounds, other trails and residential neighborhoods west of...
The Cayuga-Seneca Canalway Trail is a 5-mile pathway beginning in Waterloo, New York and terminating at Seneca Lake State Park. The roadbed it uses was constructed by the Seneca County Railway...
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 Keuka Outlet Trail offers a sinuous route of nearly 7 miles between Penn Yan and Dresden in New York’s Finger Lakes region. The rail-trail follows a railroad corridor that traced a former canal...
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 Lackawanna Rail Trail traces a short stretch of the old Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad from Lowman to Elmira in southern New York. Much of it follows the meandering Chemung River, meaning...
The Vestal Rail Trail runs for nearly four miles through the town of Vestal along an abandoned right-of-way once used by the Delaware–Lackawana & Western Railroad. Today, the 12-foot-wide trail is...
Enjoy a smooth ride along the Catharine Valley Trail, a well-maintained multiuse pathway that provides a comfortable and shaded biking experience through Upstate New York. High points include entering...
Trail was nice, but needed more signage in Montour Falls to get back on the trail.. Started at Watkins and rode to the domes. It is a steady climb almost all the way. I would recommend starting at the domes and going into Watkins, that way it is an easier ride. Nice to ride in the shade!!
Nice trail, well maintained and peacefull. Parked a vehicle on the Huck Finn Rd. Traveled to Watkins Glenn (Clute Park) you can also park at the High School. The trail overall needs more signs. The trail once you leave Montour Falls, its an incline most of the trail to our end point. Suggest riding from Huck Finn Rd to Watkins, or ride from Watkins and decide when to ride back.
We had planned to bike from Geneva to Seneca Falls on this trail, as suggested in a Facebook ad from the state parks department. Included a link to a map showing the portion from Waterloo to Seneca Falls. If you are thinking of doing this be advised that the trail does not exist. The map they offer you is apparently a planning map. Very frustrating the time wasted trying to find the trail in Waterloo before figuring out finally that the trail they promote does not exist. Trail from Geneva to Waterloo was nice enough but come on!
We rode round trip from Watkins Glen to about 3/4 of the way to Millport. The signs in Watkins glen could've been better, and I'm not sure why they start you at the marina, other than the parking. The signs rightly point you down Decatur St, but the one to turn left onto Clarence is missing (I can see it on Google maps). Didn't see any near the High School either. Otherwise the surface is well maintained and you're mostly under a shady canopy of trees.
I rode the 22 mile 'V' on 7/21/20, starting at the free public parking lot in Canandaigua, down to Stanley, and up north to Phelps. From there I followed rt 488 back to the lot in Canandaigua for a 35 mile loop.
This definitely has the topography of a rail trail --mostly flat. But has a different vibe then the well manicured stone dust trails. Though the trail is 5 to 10ft wide, it is grass with a narrow dirt single track for most of its length. Some parts the single track were more grass then dirt. For that reason a it's not as fast a trail, but there are no roots or rocks that would slow down a mountain bike or even a hybrid. In fact, it appears there was a recent effort to mark and remove any roots that traversed the trail. It took me exactly 2 hours to complete the 22 miles on my XC MTB. I'm not in the best physical shape, but I have been cycling a lot lately and kept a decent pace.
The trail travels mostly through farmland, but heavily encased in tree cover for some great shade. You won't see much to look at other then the handful of railroad bridges, and very few other trail users. The 'Park' at Stanley is nothing more then a kiosk and a picnic table. Heading north from the turn in Stanley, you'll have a slight assist from gravity for most of the Eastern Leg. You can make up some time here. After a brief detour on rt 488, the trail starts again on the right. It is well marked with signs, as is all of the trail. Though there are numerous road crossings, the signs were always visible and I was never confused on where to go. The northern most part of the trail heading into Phelps had the most foot traffic. It was covered in fresh stone, not crushed enough to be pleasant, a bit challenging to ride through.
Overall it was a very enjoyable ride. If you like doing long rides for the exercise, but are bored by the canal trail, then you'll like this trail. Just don't bring your road bike. On the other hand, if you're looking for up and down MTB adventures with roots, rocks, drops, and narrow switch backs, you will definitely be bored here.
One tip...be careful going through the narrow gates. I snagged my hand on some thorns trying to squeeze through one of them.
Rode the section between Montour Falls and Millport (4miles one way). From Montour Falls to Millport was uphill the entire way (guessing a 2 -3% grade?) So if you are a leisure rider and prefer flatter trails - or downhill, you will want to start at Millport and ride to Montour (and hopefully have a car or ride waiting for you :-) scenery is beautiful and entirely shaded!
The trail was only extended from Elmira to Lowman recently. The new part is in excellent shape, but there are no amenities between Wegmans and Lowman.
If you make it to Wegmans, Eldridge Park is also worth exploring. Yes, you must cross the highway. Take a walk around the lake or a boat ride. Hopefully, when the pandemic calms down, there will be more to do there.
In the fall of 2018, I was camping at Taughannock Falls State Park, and rode this trail into Ithaca. The trail was rural and shaded, made of crushed gravel and well maintained, with a gentle uphill grade on the way back.
There is a nice park called the Ithaca Children's Garden at the end of the trail in Ithaca, and many other trails and walkways in Ithaca as well.
Between the trails, the city, the parks, and all the waterfalls, you could easily spend a lovely day here, which is just what I did. I look forward to coming back to this area, in the near future.
Rode from Amsterdam to Fultonville And back had a great ride on a great day. Newly paved section starting about halfway to Fultonville stopped at the Schoharie Crossing historic site very interesting and great subs in Fultonville the new bridge and park in Amsterdam is very nice too....
Directions, parking and trail description all accurate, but there was no fishing access as described. The area as described a out a mile out from the trail head was too steep with rocks and a dense tree and bush line.
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