Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Syracuse, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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...
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,...
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 current stretch of trail kicks off near Lock 4 in Waterloo and...
In the heart of New York's Finger Lakes Region is a rail-trail that is part natural wonder and part industrial archaeology, and the 7-mile trail Keuka Outlet Trail has a unique heritage. Technically a...
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 Cato-Fair Haven Trail (a.k.a. Cayuga County Trail) travels a little more than 14 miles through forest, wetland and tree farm.
The Charlie Major Nature Trail follows an abandoned right-of-way that once carried trains along the old Skaneateles Short Line Railroad. The railroad served millworks in the area, including paper...
This is a flat 1.6 mile trail through woods, wetlands and farmland connecting Rt. 34 in the Town of Fleming to Dunning Ave. in the City of Auburn. It is an easy walk or bike through a very scenic...
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, Syracuse, Rome,...
The Cayuga-Seneca Canalway Trail is a 5-mile pathway beginning in Waterloo, New York and terminating at Seneca Lake State Park. The current stretch of trail kicks off near Lock 4 in Waterloo and...
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...
Shaped like a left-leaning V, the Ontario Pathways Rail Trail travels southeast from Canandaigua to Stanley, then shoots north to Phelps. The rural trail is the pride of an industrious community...
The first mile of the nearly 12-mile planned Oneida Rail Trail opened in September 2014 between Hubbard Place and Lenox Avenue on the west side of Oneida. The trail runs through woodlands on an old...
In the heart of New York's Finger Lakes Region is a rail-trail that is part natural wonder and part industrial archaeology, and the 7-mile trail Keuka Outlet Trail has a unique heritage. Technically a...
The Oswego County Trail follows an abandoned right-of-way of the old New York Ontario & Western Railroad between Cleveland and Fulton. The trail passes among scenic countryside on a sometimes rough...
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,...
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 Jim Schug Trail offers a short, sweet excursion in New York's Finger Lakes region. The trail was known as the Dryden Lake Trail until it was renamed in 2002 in memory of the late town supervisor...
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 Oswego County Trail follows an abandoned right-of-way of the old New York Ontario & Western Railroad between Cleveland and Fulton. The trail passes among scenic countryside on a sometimes rough...
Shaped like a left-leaning V, the Ontario Pathways Rail Trail travels southeast from Canandaigua to Stanley, then shoots north to Phelps. The rural trail is the pride of an industrious community...
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,...
The Cayuga-Seneca Canalway Trail is a 5-mile pathway beginning in Waterloo, New York and terminating at Seneca Lake State Park. The current stretch of trail kicks off near Lock 4 in Waterloo and...
In the heart of New York's Finger Lakes Region is a rail-trail that is part natural wonder and part industrial archaeology, and the 7-mile trail Keuka Outlet Trail has a unique heritage. Technically a...
This is a flat 1.6 mile trail through woods, wetlands and farmland connecting Rt. 34 in the Town of Fleming to Dunning Ave. in the City of Auburn. It is an easy walk or bike through a very scenic...
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 first mile of the nearly 12-mile planned Oneida Rail Trail opened in September 2014 between Hubbard Place and Lenox Avenue on the west side of Oneida. The trail runs through woodlands on an old...
The Jim Schug Trail offers a short, sweet excursion in New York's Finger Lakes region. The trail was known as the Dryden Lake Trail until it was renamed in 2002 in memory of the late town supervisor...
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 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, Syracuse, Rome,...
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 Cato-Fair Haven Trail (a.k.a. Cayuga County Trail) travels a little more than 14 miles through forest, wetland and tree farm.
The Charlie Major Nature Trail follows an abandoned right-of-way that once carried trains along the old Skaneateles Short Line Railroad. The railroad served millworks in the area, including paper...
Six older couples cycling from East Syracuse to Albany in May, just before the Canal opened. Advantage: Lots of camping. Disadvantage: no boats to watch in the locks and towns. The book was pleasantly wrong and needs a wee bit of an update with the wonderful new additions, trail re-locations, and especially attractions. There was much less on-road cycling than we had worried about. The drivers on the road were suitably accommodating. We camped some nights and stayed in motels as the mood and weather might indicate. When we got to Amsterdam, NY, however, we slept in a CASTLE!! The Amsterdam Castle, a mere 800' from the trail was amazing and worth the few dollars more than the chain motels we had stayed at. There was a breakfast and wonderful rooms. The artwork was worth a museum entrance fee. Everything was AMAZING! We enjoyed a nice meal at Parillo's Italian Restaurant (go through through the Armory Bar and Grill and take a left). Another fun culinary highlight of the ride was Mike's Diner in Fultonville. It's just under the highway on the left. Great food, great fun. Very entertaining proprietor and a fair price. Now, the areas that need improvement: Only one or two cross streets were signed. There were virtually no signs for important trail-side amenities, like, lodging, camping, ice cream, groceries, repair shops, ice cream, attractions, or restaurants with ice cream. [The Great Allegheny Passage really got that right.] ECT should take a look. There were no trail-side tool set-ups like on the Norwootuck or GAP trails. Those were nice. Some of the really cool attractions, like the first bike ridden cross-country, a huge high-wheeler, is in the second floor of a darling historical society in Henniker. Each local Chamber of Commerce should be all over this trail. As multi-day trails go, this one had the most to offer in scenery and museums, but they were often not in the book and hard. We only knew about them from prior research and our AAA Guide. Rome and Fort Stanwix not withstanding. We broke a chain on the tandem in Schenectedy. One bike shop, Plaine and Sons, fortunately has a mobile service van. We called them and explained the issue, and they don't actually use the van. It's basically just a sign. We went to NY Bike on Congress, where an efficient young man repaired the bike in less than five minutes. If an establishment isn't really going to support the trail, they should not be mentioned. My advice would be double your time from other trails of the same length and see the sights which lie not far off the trail. This ride is more of an adventure and less of just a bike ride. To just ride it is to miss the mark. Hope some of this helps. Happy trails.
I tried to ride the South Cazenovia Rail Trail in early June 2013. Unfortunately, the rail-trail has some extremely wet spots in it, edge to edge of the railroad cut. It's more of a snowmobile trail, really. I can't see how any wheeled vehicle, or even pedestrians could make it the length of the rail-trail. And don't even ask me about the mosquitoes. All those puddles make it mosquito city.
My wife and I rode out tandem from Cass Park to the north end at Taughannock Falls. Starting at Cass Park, the trail has a long, steady (but gentle) climb for about 4 miles. The surface is crushed stone like it says, but the size is like fine gravel (think fish tank). Although I didn't ride with them, I plan to switch to my MTB slicks to reduce the rolling resistance. There is a small parking lot near the northern end, by the falls, where we found a picnic table to eat a bag lunch at. There are otherwise no services or restrooms along this trail. The return ride back to Cass Park was a bit faster, being downhill most of the way.
Was going to begin at maple ave as it’s closest to home, but didn’t feel comfortable parking here. Clearly marked for motorized vehicles and probably great for that and locals but wouldn’t leave my car here unattended. Maybe try a different starting point.
The Ontario Pathway is exactly that; a pathway. It is a wide grassy path with a narrow-worn bike path. I was not expecting such a primitive trail. It is a beautiful trail that is under a canopy of trees that travels through lush farms. On our ride, the weather was great but the trail could be a problem in wet weather.
The Ontario Pathway seems to be lost in time. I felt I should have been riding a balloon tire Schwinn instead of my hybrid. It was a great experience but a little more strenuous that we expected.
Compared to other trails we have ridden on with our mountain bikes this one was very dug up and rocky.
This is a uniformly wide trail of hard packed stone and very little elevation change. 80 or 90% in the shade due to the very thick canopy running next to the canal that connects Seneca and Cayuga Lakes. The water itself is in view about 30 or 40% of the time and it is gorgeous. This will be a great trail to ride in the fall, just a few weeks from now. Note that the actual mileage is 4 1/2 miles and is really only accessible from the Waterloo entrance. Very large parking lot right next to one of the locks. Note that will be instructions say that you go down half Street after going over the bridge from the north, there is no Huff Street sign at the corner of Route 96 and 12 Huff but there is a round Cayuga Seneca trail sign pointing the way. Once this route connect to Seneca lake state park it will add about three more miles for a total of 7 1/2 one way or 15 round trip which will be great. Seneca Lake State Park and the Geneva waterfront are fully along the north end of Seneca lake right on the water
As other reviewers have noted, this is an absolutely beautiful shaded trail. It is slowly, ever so slowly, being developed by a not-for-profit organization of volunteers. These volunteers need someone to help them prepare grant applications to New York State's current method of funding, the Consolidated Funding Application as well as to private foundations making grants in New York State's Finger Lakes Region.
Without a significant infusion of funds this Trail has no chance of reaching its potential as a major tourist destination as well as an outstanding recreational facility for residents of Yates County.
Walking the trail is a wonderful experience biking it not so wonderful.
Some sections of the Keuka Outlet Trail are now single track and double track trail surfaces. Fine for walking, not good if you are bicycling on an non-suspension bicycle. The Penn Yan Rotary & other organizations have placed very nice benches along the KLOT/KOT.
I bicycled the entire Trail on a folding (20" wheels & tires with a well defined but not mtb tread) touring bicycle without suspension but I'm a very experienced bicycle who wears well padded bike shorts!
The Keuka Outlet Trail is much smoother, even in the gravel and single track sections than the NPS's C&O Trail between Cumberland MD & Hancock MD.
I recommend the KOT or KLOT as a walking trail with much to see (waterfalls, remains of mills) and admire along its route. Go to the Yates County Chamber of Commerce office for a map & brochure of the Trail. Make a contribution to the "Friends of the Outlet, Inc." to improve the trail surface. There are "lock boxes" along the Trail for you to make contributions but a nice sized check would certainly help.
Ran from the trail intersection and Freshour Rd to Canadaigua YMCA. Beautiful tree canopy made sun protection unnecessary. This portion of the trail was about 50/50 wide enough to run on the path vs. in the grass.
About 3/4 had a taste in the mouth manure smell. Not sure time of year, wind direction or weather its a common occurrence.
I live within 200 yards of this trail so it's my go to for exercise, love it!
When biking from Utica to oriskany this trail hasn't been maintained at all.its to a point where I quit usuing this trail
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!
