I almost skipped this great trail due to the bad reviews, but it was quite nice. Beautiful forest, wetlands and a few peeks of farmland. Make no mistake, it's nothing like zooming down the Erie towpath on perfectly smooth stone dust, but it would be manageable for anyone with a little mountain bike experience. There were too many mud puddles to count (some trail-wide) on my ride. You could either blast through them like a ten year old and come back looking like a Tide commercial or practice your bike handling around the edges. Like any mtn. bike trail, you'll need to keep your eyes on the trail and be ready for occasional half-buried rocks. Try to go when it's dry and expect a slower pace with lots of maneuvering and it's a good ride. *** The first 1/2 mile or so starting at the Fair Haven Fire Dept. is awful. You can skip it by road riding on Fair Haven Rd (94) between the fire dept. and Simmons Rd at the sawmill (trail is 100 ft. from Fair Haven Rd. at this point). It's only a mile and not busy at all.

In mid September, when my husband and I were walking the trail, we found the mosquito population from Dresden to the parking lot for Seneca Mills Falls to be horrible. I would never hike in that area at that time of year again. Even mosquito repellent hardly helped. However, hiking from the Seneca Mills Falls parking lot to Seneca falls is lovely and the falls is lovely too.

I posted a review of a segment of the trail which I believe is unsafe. At the same time I contacted the agency that has responsibility for maintaining the segment. They immediately responded and have since, according to them, addressed the problems of surface degradation.

Wife and I took this gem and it is awesome. Beautiful scenery and not too travelled. My wife’s hybrid bike did fine. Very well kept, my only wish is that it went to the lake. Overall very satisfied. Drop in at North Pond Park that’s a nice ride as well.

On August 20, 2021 I rode the trail between Fishell Rd and W River Rd, a 3.2 mile segment. It is dangerous, the erosion has caused the surface to be uneven and very loose. This segment needs immediate maintenance. I am an experienced cyclist and was riding a "gravel" bike.

2021: Biked the Erie Canal trail from Buffalo to Cohoes. Well worth the time. And mostly a very pleasant experience, with just a few caveats. Trail improvements are ongoing and signage along the trail is not always up to date, so check your route carefully, especially where it is on-road. The initial section from downtown Buffalo is grungy city streets, but that improves with a great, mostly off-road trail all the way to Lyons. Lockport to Spencerport is fairly exposed, but from there on to Lyons is generally pleasantly green and shaded. From Clyde to Port Byron and through Syracuse were onroad and not always clearly signed and were the least pleasant. From the east side of Syracuse all the way to Cohoes was a delightful and beautiful ride, with the exception of finding one's way onroad and with poor signage through Rome. All in all (despite my caveats) a good, local, human-powered bucket-list endeavor, with thanks to all the communities along the way and everyone maintaining and improving and filling the gaps in the trail.

Park in Lehigh Crossing Park. Head west on the gravel road and make your first right up the gravel road, before the pond. At the top of the hill you will enter the Lehigh Valley railroad bed that has been graded and rolled with stone dust. Continue all the way to the Genesee River and the Greenway Trail. Enjoy your ride.

9/1/2021: Just rode the Auburn trail (as part of the Rochester Gravel Bike Loop) the short distance from the Lehigh Valley trail to Maple Avenue, going east. The trail has a good surface and is a pleasant ride. Just note that (as of today) the TrailLink map is slightly wrong: the trail goes directly to Maple Ave along the railroad right-of-way; it does not go to Dryer road.

9/1/2021: Biked this trail from west (at the Genesee Greenway trail) to east (connection with the Auburn trail) as part of the Rochester Gravel Bike Loop. As a rail-trail, it was flat, level and straight, with a combination of overpasses, underpasses and grade crossings at surface streets, with just one short awkward road segment (Fishell Road) to cross under I-390. The weather had been hot and dry so there were no muddy sections. The trail corridor is mostly wide, tree-lined and pleasant, usually with either woods or fields beyond, sometimes Honeoye creek. Aside from a soft 1/4 mile at the west end, the surface was in great condition, packed stone dust, sometimes with a grass "median". There were also pleasant town parks as stopping points along the way. Mid-day on a weekday -- light traffic - met perhaps 10 other bicyclists in the 15 miles.