Find the top rated mountain biking trails in New York, whether you're looking for an easy short mountain biking trail or a long mountain biking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a mountain biking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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My wife and I rode 46 miles, out and back, from East Greenbush to Stuyvesant Falls. There is much that stands out about this trail. The surface alternates between asphalt and crushed stone. The latter is so well packed that there is no noticeable difference. There are a few short portions on light traffic public roads. All turns are very well marked. There are very few public facilities. forthem.
Pros: Trail is in great condition with smooth pavement. Wide enough to pass others. Very well signed. Progress markers along the way with helpful “You are here” designations Nice views of fields and farms. Cons: There are a few busy roads to cross which merit caution. These, again, are very well labeled, and crosswalks are clearly painted. Bonus tip: If heading in the direction of Akron, try stopping at Akron Falls Park. Nice additional biking available there as well, in addition to an opportunity the hop off the two wheeler and take a nice hike by the falls.
Like other reviewers, we found this trail well maintained and attractive. All of the trail is paved, and most of the trail is flat except for a few hills toward the southern end. As pretty as it is, and we were there for spectacular wild flowers and a great variety of birds, we never felt very far from a gas station. It isn't a remote nature trail so if you're looking for that you may want to choose a different trail. I'm only giving it 4 stars to alert others to the busy surroundings. Overall a very pleasant ride.
We parked at the Finger Lakes Visitors Center and rode to the trail. An employee at the visitors center told us to ride on the bike/walking path to the children’s water play area, turn left, go over small bridge at creek, make immediate right, and follow trail. Trail will take you beside creek, up over rail road tracks and then underneath highway to trail. We would have never found it without these wonderful directions. Hopefully this is helpful to you too!
We were pleasantly surprised with how nice this trail is based on some of the reviews. We ride hybrid bikes with shocks and comfort seats and are accustomed to riding gravel and backroads so this trail was just what we look for. Trail is firm packed gravel and very smooth, no potholes or washboard experienced on our ride. Plenty of parking available on the Castleton end of the trail, we parked in the trailhead lot across from the Amtrak station. Definitely in our top 10 list of VT rides.
I drove the 70 miles from my home in Manhattan, not an easy drive both northbound and return given traffic. A friend suggested a parking place just South of Wassaic Station that is free all the time. Location is 14 Main Street, Wassaic, NY. I rode the 23 miles North to the point that the trail turns East along a public road. I turned around not because of riding on a public road, after all I ride in Manhattan, but because I would already have 50 miles before I got home. The trail is paved and mostly smooth. The multiple bridges are concrete slabs and a few are wooden. All have distinctive railings made of wood joined by steel cables. They compliment the natural trail very well. It is the CLEANEST trail that I’ve ever cycled, I saw only ONE discarded plastic bottle and it was down a ravine. Negatives: Pack an extra water bottle, I had two and rationed it carefully. I found NO place to buy a drink or snack. Take extra trail mix! There is only one intersection with heavy traffic. On the ones with very light traffic I found that the vehicles would stop and let you pass. Caution, just because the westbound car stopped that’s no guarantee that the eastbound vehicle will be as considerate. Few porta-potties; the ladies may not be pleased.
We rode the Electric Line trail from Stuyvesant Falls to North Chatham on 6/20/22. First thing you need to know: use the actual Empire State Trail website to get maps and directions; as of this writing, Google’s routing is incorrect and missing several sections. The trail is partly stone dust and partly paved, and includes a few on-road sections which were easily navigated. In fact, the signage on this trail was the best I’ve ever seen! Almost every trail crossing has a user-activated light, even though in most cases the traffic is minimal. I loved the variety – you go past farms, along creeks, past several reservoirs, and skirt your way past some nice small towns like Kinderhook and Valatie. The engineers did a great job with the routing of the trail here. There’s a short section where the trail moves on-road (Route 9) which is a bit busy, but we just avoided that by riding a short distance on the sidewalk. Lots of signage describing the history of the area. The trail was in great condition and fun to ride. After having ridden many other trails in the Hudson valley (the Wallkill, the Dutchess, the Maybrook, the Harlem Valley), so nice to have another great trail to add to the list!
I rode the length of the Catharine Valley Trail in both directions. It's a very average trail. It's basically a crushed stone surface through the woods without anything to distinguish it from a thousand other trails. Signage is fair - there are a few places where a sign indicating the direction to the trail would have been helpful, but after fumbling around for a couple minutes you can figure it out. Portions of the trail follow Rt. 14, so there's a fair amount of traffic noise. There are a few points of interest in Watkins Glen and Montour Falls at the far north end, but other than that, there's really nothing else to see when you're on the trail. I would not recommend making this a "destination" trail - it's really not worth it. I would only suggest using it if you intend to bike from Watkins Glen down to Horseheads or Elmira. The trail allows you to avoid Rt. 14, which, although a designated New York State bike route with ample shoulders, has heavy high-speed traffic.
A pretty nice trail with some nice views, but definitely rough in places. The RT Conservancy book describes it as roughness index of 1, but it’s at least a 2. If only doing a section, recommend avoiding the section south of New Paltz.
This trail is a good idea in terms of riding from Van Cartland Park to City Island. The execution however leaves a lot of room for improvement. The mostly asphalt paths are in rough shape -cracked, tree trunk and root damage, in need of lane markings both to designate the trail and to help keep people in the proper lanes (a big issue considering the number of walkers using this trail). There are signs to help navigate this trail but they are busy and difficult to read for bikers and could be more prominent as it’s easy to miss turns at intersections.
Although a bit narrow given the amount of use this trail gets the paved surface is smooth. Nice addition to the Empire State trail joining the south county to other trails in the area.
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