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The West Shore Trail sits on the former West Shore Railroad corridor, whose tracks and ties were pulled up in the 1960s. Aside from about 1300 ft in Churchville which is paved, the trail surface is crushed stone. Cutting through wetlands and fields, the trail occasionally passes through thickly wooded areas.
There is a trailhead in Churchville, at approximately 84 Buffalo Street. It features a small parking lot, a kiosk with information about the rail and trail history, benches, restrooms and water fountains. This is at the west end of the paved portion of the trail, and the beginning of the crushed stone.
Ranging from smooth dirt and pebble gravel to three inch crushed stone, this rugged rail trail is diverse. You will need to pick your lines carefully and contend with large puddles the width of the trail, if it has rained recently. I rode it on a Priority 600 with 2.2” wide tires. I wouldn’t recommend anything smaller than 38mm wide.
The 1/2 mile in was paved, was beautiful. Next 1/2 mile poor. Next 8-10 miles was not bike worthy, to many large rocks or large gravel. Very rough to ride fast enough to escape in insects form Bergen swamp
8/24/22 -Great parking and wonderful refurbished caboose, with brand new restrooms. But trail is only paved for about a 100 yards. Trail immediately west of parking goes to 1-2 inch rocks and is impossible to ride a hybrid bike on the trail. Check back here soon, it appears churchville is improving the trail.
The trail starting in Churchville on Buffalo St is just NOT good at all for biking. I did 1/2 mile going west and a couple of bikers heading east stopped and said the rest of the trail is just like this. Very rocky and will beat you and the bike up and not worth the trip. So , in my view it's very unenjoyable and don't waste your time.
The short section in Churchville that is paved is extremely nice. Heading West of Churchville wasn’t possible for my gravel bike. The gravel is chunky. I came back the next day with my fat bike and low tire pressure, riding to Jerico road and back for a total of about 8 miles. Still a bit bumpy but enjoyable the second day.
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