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Print Friendly MapThe Albany-Hudson Electric Trail (AHET) follows a 36-mile course through the former Albany-Hudson Electric Trolley corridor from Hudson to Rensselaer in New York State. The electric trolley ran for 30 years before closing in 1929. The corridor is now owned by National Grid, who gave permission to the Hudson River Valley Greenway to construct and maintain the trail.
The journey includes passage through Hudson Valley's farmlands and orchards, access to a handful of charming communities in Rensselaer and Columbia Counties, and multiple crossings of the Valatie Kill, a picturesque stream. While the majority of the trail is off-street (either asphalt or stone dust), there are short on-street or sidewalk segments. On the north end, the trail begins near the Amtrak station, but it requires a busy on-road ride or taking the sidewalk to get to the beginning of the off-street portion in East Greenbush.
The rail-trail is a part of the cross-state Empire State Trail, which spans 750 miles from New York City to Canada and from Albany to Buffalo.
There are a number of trailheads along the route: See the trail map for exact locations and driving directions:
Rensselaer County
Columbia County
Follows the electric lines. Not very shady and not too much to see. A few lakes here and there but quite average.
Twice I had to drive an hour one-way to ride this trail in two separate excursions. There are two good places to park. The best is a huge lot at 1007 Kinderhook St, Kinderhook, NY 12184, across the street from a bagel place and a bicycle shop right on the trail. The other good place to park is near Nassau Lake, a place I had never heard of previously: 221 County Road 7, Nassau, NY 12123.
The previous comments were all correct in their reviews. The southern section of the trail has stunning scenery. (Although my first day ride had heavy winds from the west. When I rode past the cow barns I was overwhelmed by the concentrated odor that was collected at one barn end and forced out the other.) Be careful when going north through the intersection in North Chatham. There is a small parking area across the road and I thought the trail went up Bunker Hill Rd; it does not. The trail veers right, but there are good signs for riders paying attention.
From Nassau Lake, my second excursion I rode south to N. Chatham and then back all the way to the end of the off road section of the trail. It is less well used apparently. All in all a very good addition to the wonderful NY state trail system.
Happy Trail!
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.
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 did the loop from the Clinton Street parking area to North Chatham. The trail is nicely paved with new guardrails and clearly market. Several street crossings have the flashing light activation button to cross roads safely. There are a few convenience stores on the way in case supplies are needed, and there is an ice cream and lunch place on the trail in Nassau. There are a few sections you need to ride on the road, but they are back roads through neighborhoods not a lot of traffic
Beautiful and well maintained…feels like it was built last night! Maybe could use a few benches but the real issue is the dangerous berms at the intersections mentioned by a previous reviewer. Truly horrible design! We saw a rider hit one hard. Fortunately he didn’t fall. They should be removed but in the meantime the curbs should be painted and potted plants placed on them to increase visibility. You will enjoy this trail just be safe.
I did this trail end-to-end yesterday as an out-and back from the southern end (no official parking at the trailhead but two supermarkets nearby could be utilized).
Overall in good to very good shape.
The non paved sections are OK for all type bikes except perhaps not for road bikes if the trail is wet.
The on-road sections are generally well marked by Empire State Trail (of which this trail is a part) signage.
Informative signage along the way.
It's not exactly a flat ride. My cycling app had it at over 1800 feet of elevation gain for the out-and-back.
Tip: About 6 miles from the southern end is the Hudson River Skywalk over the Rip Van Winkle Bridge with great views of the Hudson River and the Catskills.
Loved this ride. We rode from Columbia Plaza in EG to Nassau and back. Casual riding took 1 1/2hrs to get to Nassau (and much longer to get back- as it was our first ride this year-do we were tuckered out!). Lol. Miller RD (exit 10) Schodack has a convenient store which is about 1/2 way. So a great “pit-stop”. As was “smilees” ice-cream in Nassau and a Taco place “Diablos ?”sp across the way in Nassau.
I’ve done the rail trail from North Chatham all the way to downtown Hudson. If you park in North Chatham off Depot Road /203 intersection it’s very picturesque. You go south down through beautiful horse farms and streams. You come to the village of Valatie near Bagel Tyme. There is also another parking right off route 9H. It is very accessible, follow the signs through Kinderhook and pass Samascot orchards. You will see a working cow farm where you cross route 9. Use the stop light button! You’ll cross through a street line with corn stalks. You come to the historic Stuyvesant Falls overlook where you will see a beautiful waterfall and an historic textile mill. textile mill.were you were see the remains of all textile mills
I set out to ride the Albany Hudson electric trail by first parking my car at the Rensselaer train station, and taking the train to Hudson. I wish I had never done so.
I made it about three or 4 miles on the trail, onto the first part of the trail that is built underneath the electric wires following the route of the old trolley. Unfortunately, the trail itself has a large divider installed on it as that first segment of off-road trail gets routed onto a street. It's about 6 inches high, and it's in a place that is absolutely critical for a rider; you need to look up to check traffic, not down to see an idiotic 6-inch- high divider on the trail itself. I hit the curb and went flying. Fortunately I only broke my left wrist.
I have never, in riding hundreds of rail trails, seen one that had a large divider placed in the rail trail itself. Perhaps they put this here to prevent cars from driving down the trail. It's a deadly hazard and it needs to be removed.
We rode 50 miles on trail and had best rail trail experience ever. Maybe next weeks Rail Trails .org inaugural 5 day ride sponsored to go from NYC to Buffalo NY was reason for pristine surface & great signage but every part of trail was in immaculate condition even after last five days heavy rains.
Per the advice of the other reviewers, we started from Schodack. We parked at the SEFCU right off the I90 exit for Schodack (if heading from west take right off exit). There is gas station/Dunkin’ Donuts right next to the exit and the SEFCU is right next to that. This way we avoided on road sections in East Greenbush. There are some hills between Schodack and Nassau but they weren’t terrible. After Nassau the trail to Kinderhook was much easier (aka flatter). We didn’t go all the way to Kinderhook but I’m looking forward to that another day. Beautiful trail.
Rode the 25 mile stretch (50 miles RT) between Nasau Lake and Hudson. Nicely maintained and signed trail. Some stretches sharing the road, but in most cases, very easy to navigate! Many historical markers throughout that explain the rich history of this line and area!
We started at the Hudson end. All cinders in Columbia County. This part is flat and the cinders bake hard once weather warms. Great views of falls land pastoral land. The Rensselaer county half is paved and has several hilly portions. The portions through the villages and hamlets include passing the remaining trolley stations. The shared road portions are ok and ample shoulders or light traffic streets are used.
I rode from Nassau to Rensselaer today on the trail. Best place to park is at the town common. Tables/pavilion no porta potties.
10 Fairground St or 7 John Street good addresses to use.
Ice Cream spot right on trail and Cumberland and pizza nearby.
Trail in great condition except one bad street.. Large parking lot at Nassau Lake
Long up and downhills about for several miles, not bad unless there is winding
Well signed and many ped/bike crossing lights
After crossing I90, Dunkin / gas ad General Store.
The trail through neighborhoods on roads are quiet.
At about Miles 10,5 & 6. Stewarts Store ad gas stations right off trail for food
Trail ends on a street in East Greenbush, You can follow the on road signs all the way to Rensselaer (some long downhills)
I do a lot of running and road biking. This trail is great for both. Rolling hill, scenic, great for distant ride/runs. Construction of the trail was completed Fall of 2020. By far my favorite trail in the capital region
First off — skip the northern part of the trail from the Hampton Manor Lake area if you are a biker — and start your trip at Miller Road (just of interstate 90). You will be greeted by a babbling brooks, rolling hills, and the smell of farms. As you head south through Nassau Lake you will have opportunities for food and drinks. This is a fun ride.
This trail is great. There are paved stretches (from East Greenbush to Nassau) with mostly unpaved from Chatham to Hudson (with short stretches of paved in that area). My favorite part is the Nassau area.
I live this trail, especially the section from Miller Rd in Schodack to the columbia county line. It's nicely paved a few hills, but mostly flat from Nassau south. Looking forward to riding further into columbia county this year.
I enjoyed biking the trail. I was only able to do areas that construction was completed and the road sections. I used a road bike on the stone dust and did not have a problem. The spots I rode were recently completed and I wonder how the stone dust will fair over the winter. around the Kinderhook area there was a good portion available. Lots of walkers the morning I rode it. I am planning on purchasing a gravel bike with a little wider tires and this will be one of my first rides this summer. I will start in the middle and hopefully make it to both ends the same ride. I want to include both of the train stations in the video even though they are a quarter of a mile from the official endpoints.
I hope to do the complete trail and record sections with a Go Pro in June '21. It will be round trip ride, so it will be double the trail length of 35 miles.
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