Find the top rated birding trails in Lancaster, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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This awesome trail starts at the tennis courts inside a subdivision. It is a little hard to find but so worth it. The beginning of the path is like taking a hike through the words (but with asphalt). It is so beautiful. You do have to cross some street then and the path takes you over by the gorge. The path is curvy and goes by lovely houses. At some points you have to go into the street by Youngstown. At that point you can ride into Ft. Niagara and enjoy the park. This is such a lovely ride and not very busy.
Rode one way approx 7 miles starting in Amsterdam. While pedaling under the thruway overpass, it smelled like feces/urine. This area has an abandoned building and an adjacent overgrown wareyard with debris piles, junk and very weedy. Approx 1/3 mile past the overpass we stopped to look at map and weather app (the clouds were looking ominous) and I see a large man riding toward us (up until that point we saw no-one else on the trail). As he passed us grunting and snarling at us, I noticed he was filthy with dirty hair and face. He rode past us and less than 30 seconds later when I looked down the trail, he had disappeared into the brush (this is a straightaway section - you can see a long way). We turned around and within 10 minutes the downpour was upon us. We were soaked when we arrived back in am-dam.
My advice: do not pedal this section by the overpass alone. This man had no good reason to pursue us, then growl/grunt when passing us and then disappear back into the brush. If I had been solo riding, I can only speculate on a different outcome. He is living under/by the overpass. We apparently pedaled thru his "area".
Nice trail along the lake and into Buffalo. But busy in weekends.
The trail provides a great peaceful, scenic adventure through the natural greenspace along the Robert Moses and around Lower River Road.
However, its condition has deteriorated over the years and has several unsafe locations if roller blading or biking.
Are there any future plans to update?
This is the first of a multi-part review, since the trail is so long. It takes me and hour and a half to drive from New Paltz, NY to one of the parking areas.
Last year I rode the section from the Corning Center in Albany along the Hudson River to end at a parking lot in Watervaliet. Right next to the the river, there is a lot to see and hear on this paved trail, as the highway is sometimes very close. There are plenty of areas to stop and touch the water while on a break. Just do it sometime anytime. I would like to revisit this section after the leaves have fallen, just before winter.
Last month I rode from the through the Albany suburbs of Watervaliet, Green Island, and Cahoes. Though it is fairly flat and well paved, it is totally on-street section of the trail. One nice side trip is north up to Waterford, which goes over several bridges to Van Schaich Island and Peebles Island. When you cross the steel bridge you can see the beginning of the actual canal and its first lock near the Waterford Harbor Visitor Center. Just go down Cannon Street.
Last week, Tuesday August 20, 2019 I went to the section that includes the towns of Latham and Colonie, turning around at Lock 7 on the Mohawk River. This is a very nice section of the trail, good pavement, mostly shady and offers a few nice views of the Mohawk River. There is a short on-road section in Dunsbach Ferry where you ride underneath Route 87. Then a significant hill back to the trail. Headed west, from the Lions Park in Niskayuna ( a good parking area) there is one very straight and flat section of about a mile or so for time-keepers and racers. Lock #7 is a pleasant park to stop for a break and watch the boats navigate the rise or fall of the lock, next to a waterfall.
It may take several years for me to complete the entire Erie Canal trail, but it is a fun goal.
We have been loving this trail from Herkimer ( starts at Movac parking lot rt 5s Mohawk) , past Fort Herkimer Church about 4 miles is paved and mostly flat. A beautiful ride. Will be great when the connection at rt 167 in LittleFalls is finished. The trail continues to be paved across rt 167 ( Little Falls). Mostly flat and very scenic. Turns to stone dust at Finks Basin rd. LF ( parking). Paved again@ STJ
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..
Nice trail except for three sections that were closed due to construction, and gated due to only being open certain hours. We rode on a sunday morning. No alternate route offered for construction section of bike path. I would think weekends are when people ride bikes not sure why sections are gated shut then. The neighborhoods in those sections were sketchy.
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.
My group of 4 started a bike trip from downtown Buffalo. Our plan included stops in Lockport and Brockport. The “canalway” trail out of Buffalo had many closed sections without properly marked detours. We were forced to figure out our own detours with the help of other bikers. Signs are desperately needed that give bikers proper detour paths (all on the road). As we moved east out of Tonawanda the trail improved and there were few detours. However, the NY Canal Corp is currently working on sections of the trail. They are adding a sand gravel mix that is very difficult t for riding bikes. All 4 of us had close calls with falling
The whole trail is under complete rebuilding. Detour through all city streets in bad areas. It will be a great ride someday, just not this year.
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