This trail sorely tested the idea that a bad day biking is better than a good day at work.

Looks like it is used by ATVs a lot ... the surface is not particularly flat or smooth, anywhere. It's a constantly bouncing ride, which gets old after a while. That's really saying something for me, because I ride a fat bike and enjoy that sort of thing.

As of June 2016, there were two major problems as I went north from Philadelphia: The trail toward Clayton all but disappeared into overgrowth at Douglas Crossing. Okayyyy ... double back and settle for the shorter trail to Redwood. That turns into deep sand in places and is heavily rutted in others. The washout was passable by walking the bike, but it was really hard riding beyond that so I gave up.

Periodically there were places where I dared not go too fast, then bogged down in soft stuff because I was going too slow. Luckily I never actually fell, just had to do a panic dismount jump a few times.

Finally, the scenery isn't anything special, mostly overgrown fields.

Don't make a special trip for this one.

This trail is fun, and one of the only published trails for Jefferson county. Riding from Philadelphia to Redwood is quite fun. Tried going to Clayton but the trail looked as if it's hardly been used after Douglas Crossing. Does anybody know if the Clayton trail is still open?

Terrible half of it is closed some one put boulders in front of the road crossings and crossed out atvs with a sharpie and a lot of it is posted and blocked by gates so you can only ride some of it the black creek road is blocked of go on Jack st

Attempted to run from Philadelphia to Clayton. Trail is made for mountain bike or off road vehicle. Not really suited for running. Also, trail portion west of Douglas Junction over the black creek is un-passable. Could not find a detour as you're 30 feet above the water standing at a cliff with no way across. Had to double back and detour to side streets to get needed miles.

Not sure why the map shows the trail going where it goes. That's not the route of the Maple City Trail. Look instead on the opposite side of the Oswegatchie River where you will see a trail marked "Maple City Trail". That's the rail-trail. What you see on the map may or may not be a trail, but it's definitely not a trail-trail.

Anyway, all that aside, the trail follows the route of the DeKalb Branch of the New York York Central. It came off the current CSX line in a wye, and headed straight up to Heuvelton where it curved through the town, then straight up to Ogdensburg. Parts of the railbed are kept open by private landowners, some of whom don't post the property.

The rail-trail itself is marked, paved, and goes from the middle of the city to the first bridge over the Oswegatchie. It's a nice bicycle ride, if rather short. It's more appropriate for walkers, which it sees plenty of. There are a few park benches along the way to enjoy a view of the river.

Trail has potential as there is a wide path area and level but it is not maintained at all.

Rivergate is opened detour pass washout

Rode this trail to from Philly to Redwood last year on a poker run to benefit Haley Mills. Awesome run and awesome trail.

This is a great trail. The Indian River ATV club does an awesome job maintaining the portion from Philadelphia to Redwood. I hope the trail to get to Clayton gets repaired soon.