Find the top rated bike trails in Oswego, 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.
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...
While many other rail trails in rural New York have gravel or grass surfaces, which make them difficult to traverse for cyclists and users with disabilities, the Lenox Rail Trail offers over two miles...
The Manchester Gateway Trail is a scenic route used by walkers and cyclers that follows the Canandaigua Outlet through Manchester. It has also been used for skiing during winter months. The trailhead...
Verona Beach State Park is located on the eastern shore of Oneida Lake. Shaded picnic areas and the campground are adjacent to the beach with an excellent view of the water. The lake, Black Creek,...
This unique in-city trail was built on portions of the former Ontario and Western Railway Line through the City of Oswego. The Ontario and Western Railway ran its last train in March of 1957. The...
Sackets Harbor Battlefield History Trail is part of the Sackets Harbor Battlefield, that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Interpretive panels along the loop trail tell the...
This paved scenic trail, converted from the New York Central Railroad, follows a small portion of the Black River’s 114-plus miles. Originating in the Adirondack foothills, the Black River flows west...
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,...
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...
This paved scenic trail, converted from the New York Central Railroad, follows a small portion of the Black River’s 114-plus miles. Originating in the Adirondack foothills, the Black River flows west...
The Manchester Gateway Trail is a scenic route used by walkers and cyclers that follows the Canandaigua Outlet through Manchester. It has also been used for skiing during winter months. The trailhead...
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,...
Verona Beach State Park is located on the eastern shore of Oneida Lake. Shaded picnic areas and the campground are adjacent to the beach with an excellent view of the water. The lake, Black Creek,...
Sackets Harbor Battlefield History Trail is part of the Sackets Harbor Battlefield, that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Interpretive panels along the loop trail tell 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...
This unique in-city trail was built on portions of the former Ontario and Western Railway Line through the City of Oswego. The Ontario and Western Railway ran its last train in March of 1957. 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...
While many other rail trails in rural New York have gravel or grass surfaces, which make them difficult to traverse for cyclists and users with disabilities, the Lenox Rail Trail offers over two miles...
This unique in-city trail was built on portions of the former Ontario and Western Railway Line through the City of Oswego. The Ontario and Western Railway ran its last train in March of 1957. The...
While many other rail trails in rural New York have gravel or grass surfaces, which make them difficult to traverse for cyclists and users with disabilities, the Lenox Rail Trail offers over two miles...
The Manchester Gateway Trail is a scenic route used by walkers and cyclers that follows the Canandaigua Outlet through Manchester. It has also been used for skiing during winter months. The trailhead...
Verona Beach State Park is located on the eastern shore of Oneida Lake. Shaded picnic areas and the campground are adjacent to the beach with an excellent view of the water. The lake, Black Creek,...
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...
This paved scenic trail, converted from the New York Central Railroad, follows a small portion of the Black River’s 114-plus miles. Originating in the Adirondack foothills, the Black River flows west...
Sackets Harbor Battlefield History Trail is part of the Sackets Harbor Battlefield, that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Interpretive panels along the loop trail tell 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...
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,...
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.
The creek is pretty nice, but overshadowed most of the way by the adjacent noisy interstate. Also, much of the asphalt has tree roots running under it, causing the trail to be quite bumpy.
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
Small section of this trail runs alongside sewage treatment facility (no bad smells, just interrupts the natural environment for a while). Nice views of the stream. Well maintained, easy walking.
We rode our bikes all the way from Waterloo to the Visitors Center in Geneva. Great ride, we loved it.
Hiked the first two miles South of Fairhaven. Very difficult walk full of rocks and cinders and plainly not hospitable to hikers and groomed for motorized vehicles instead. Would recommend a pavement for bikers and hikers since it would seem to help supplement activities at the park and allow families to bike and hike some beautiful backwoods Upstate scenery.
I did this trail on a grey day. The ride was flat, not technical. I did flat about 5 miles in due to a huge thorn. There were lots of debris from trees due to recent storms. My in-laws live here and this trail was the perfect length in distance and time for a ride to get away for a bit. I rode my gravel bike with 40mm tires which was perfect. I only passed two people walking dogs and a couple of other cyclists on hybrids on my return. I would just caution people that there are a number of road and farm road crossings. Definitely slow down and stop to make sure no traffic is coming.
My husband and I hiked this from Stanley to Canandaigua and just loved it. Mind you, it’s September and the manure smell wasn’t bad at all at this time of year. We have been walking a trail a day to raise $ for a charity and are up to 9 rail trails so far and over 144 miles to date. This was by far the easiest and kindest to our feet! Lots of soft, well maintained grass and also mossy areas in shadier places. Again, this was from Stanley to Canandaigua. I’d listen to other reviewers for the Phelps side of the trail. BTW, the Stanley to Canandaigua side has the delightful Pooh Corner signs, at least 12 or more! It could use more benches...there is only one.
Ontario Pathways is mostly single track and grass with occasional spots with gravel and stone dust. It is well maintained in terms of mowing and trimming back trees but would definitely suggest using a mountain bike if cycling on either leg of this trail. The trail goes through rural forested areas and pretty farmland. Canandaigua on the west terminus offers the only services on the route.
Great for short walks but not paved so I don’t recommend it for over 5 miles but seems good for ATVs
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