Explore the best rated trails in Oneonta, NY. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Tannersville Bike Path (Huckleberry Multi-Use Trail) and Andes Rail Trail. With more than 11 trails covering 384 miles you’re bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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The Philip A. Rayhill Memorial Recreational Trail is part of the New Hartford & Whitestown Rail Trail system (NH & W). The 5-mile asphalt trail links the two towns and roughly parallels Route 840...
There are two trails named the O&W: one in New York and this one in Pennsylvania. Although the trail stretches 32 miles (as shown on the map), only the first 8 miles of trail (from Simpson to...
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For family riding and walking, the Tannersville Bike Path offers a 2.7 mile stretch of graded dirt path starting on Clum Hill Road directly across from Cortina Valley. The opposite end is on Bloomer...
This paved trail is located on the west side of the North-South Arterial that runs through Utica New York. The trail provides a non-driving option for folks to travel through the city and a pedestrian...
This rustic unpaved trail, just over three miles in length, runs along a route formerly used by the New York, Ontario, & Western Railway's Main Line through Parksville in Sullivan County, NY. The...
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 38-mile D&H Rail-Trail traces the former corridor of the Delaware & Hudson Railway, a line that primarily carried anthracite coal out of the Lackawanna Valley in the second half of the 19th...
When complete, 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,...
The Liberty Rail Trail extends about 2.5 miles through the village of Liberty, NY, between Chestnut Street/SR 52 (near West Street) and the old rail trestle in Ferndale. The trail occupies a portion...
The Liberty Rail Trail extends about 2.5 miles through the village of Liberty, NY, between Chestnut Street/SR 52 (near West Street) and the old rail trestle in Ferndale. The trail occupies a portion...
When complete, 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,...
The Andes Rail Trail begins in the quaint town of Andes in the beautiful Catskill Mountains region of southeastern New York and follows a branch of the former Delaware and Northern Railroad. At the...
There are two trails named the O&W: one in New York and this one in Pennsylvania. Although the trail stretches 32 miles (as shown on the map), only the first 8 miles of trail (from Simpson to...
For family riding and walking, the Tannersville Bike Path offers a 2.7 mile stretch of graded dirt path starting on Clum Hill Road directly across from Cortina Valley. The opposite end is on Bloomer...
The Catskill Scenic Trail lives up to its name as it winds through a broad farming valley and small towns in New York's Catskill Mountains. The West Branch of the Delaware River is often in sight,...
The 38-mile D&H Rail-Trail traces the former corridor of the Delaware & Hudson Railway, a line that primarily carried anthracite coal out of the Lackawanna Valley in the second half of the 19th...
The Philip A. Rayhill Memorial Recreational Trail is part of the New Hartford & Whitestown Rail Trail system (NH & W). The 5-mile asphalt trail links the two towns and roughly parallels Route 840...
This rustic unpaved trail, just over three miles in length, runs along a route formerly used by the New York, Ontario, & Western Railway's Main Line through Parksville in Sullivan County, NY. The...
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...
This paved trail is located on the west side of the North-South Arterial that runs through Utica New York. The trail provides a non-driving option for folks to travel through the city and a pedestrian...
There are two trails named the O&W: one in New York and this one in Pennsylvania. Although the trail stretches 32 miles (as shown on the map), only the first 8 miles of trail (from Simpson to...
This paved trail is located on the west side of the North-South Arterial that runs through Utica New York. The trail provides a non-driving option for folks to travel through the city and a pedestrian...
The Catskill Scenic Trail lives up to its name as it winds through a broad farming valley and small towns in New York's Catskill Mountains. The West Branch of the Delaware River is often in sight,...
The Philip A. Rayhill Memorial Recreational Trail is part of the New Hartford & Whitestown Rail Trail system (NH & W). The 5-mile asphalt trail links the two towns and roughly parallels Route 840...
The Liberty Rail Trail extends about 2.5 miles through the village of Liberty, NY, between Chestnut Street/SR 52 (near West Street) and the old rail trestle in Ferndale. The trail occupies a portion...
The Andes Rail Trail begins in the quaint town of Andes in the beautiful Catskill Mountains region of southeastern New York and follows a branch of the former Delaware and Northern Railroad. At the...
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 38-mile D&H Rail-Trail traces the former corridor of the Delaware & Hudson Railway, a line that primarily carried anthracite coal out of the Lackawanna Valley in the second half of the 19th...
This rustic unpaved trail, just over three miles in length, runs along a route formerly used by the New York, Ontario, & Western Railway's Main Line through Parksville in Sullivan County, NY. The...
For family riding and walking, the Tannersville Bike Path offers a 2.7 mile stretch of graded dirt path starting on Clum Hill Road directly across from Cortina Valley. The opposite end is on Bloomer...
When complete, 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,...
ON 5/16 with a storm coming in from South, I started out at Orson pond and headed south. Trail conditions are very choppy as this end is pretty much ATV's are the prime users of this section of trail. At about 1/2 mile as you get into woods, the trail begins to smooth out on the edges. The biggest draw back is missing the great scenery on both sides of the trail as you must stay mindful of the trail conditions and constantly finding a smooth path. Also noteworthy is the width of the trail is almost double most rail trails. So sharing this with ATV makes for easy passing. Ended up at StillWater in a bout 90 minutes. Also - there are no markings on this end for miles as all signage is for ATV community. I did not see anyone this day and did not see a single Cycle track, so if you want solitude - this run works.
Parksville Rail Trail is one of our favorites! It’s gorgeous year round (though usually quite wet in parts, and icy in winter) but it’s one of our go to trails for a quick hike. Great for kids too!
Started in Carbondale on the Lackawanna Trail and continued seamlessly to the D&H. Trail was nice compacted cinders as described up to Ararat trailhead, trail was nice continuous uphill climb at about 1-2% barely noticeable. Last mile or two to Ararat increased to maybe 3% and was noticeable. The scenery along this stretch was varied and beautiful with small lakes an Stillwater Lake which is dammed.
From Ararat to Starrucca Viaduct is also as advertised, minimum is Hybrid with suspension, the one review that said he did it without suspension must have reverberated for weeks. This stretch is downhill and would be very difficult riding the other way the downhill grade helped overcome the friction of the uncompacted gravel.
The big disappointment came as we neared the Viaduct, the trail markings almost diminished and alternate paths made it confusing we ended up riding into town and onto town roads to the Viaduct. The Viaduct should be a highlight for this trail and unless you start there which is not recommended you could struggle to find it.
The section north of the viaduct to NY was almost impossible to find and poorly maintained dirt trail, NY line wasn't even marked, total waste of time.
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.
I rode from the viaduct to Thompson (13 miles) then Thompson to Carbondale (26 miles). From the viaduct to Ararat road was mountain bike trails (hopefully with suspension). Beautiful scenery. From Ararat rd parking area south to Carbondale was a developed rail-trail. So many beautiful things to see! The constant up hill grade from Carbondale definitely adds to the ~20 mile ride.
Signage coming into Rome traveling east, or leaving Rome traveling west, is non-existent. Expect to travel on busy city roads. Trail Links is a bit better than the Erie Canalway booklet in navigating this, but it’s still a challenge. Lots of construction in Utica and the trail east of Leland Ave is closed.
The ride from Simpson to Ararat was great. The ride uphill is doable. My wife and I did it and she is 60 and I’m 59. Stopped in Union dale at general store. Nice people. Ride back was quick downhill. Surface well maintained.
Beautiful Winter Trail - - - Brian Z does an awesome job of grooming.
New off road section was created along Broadway in Albany after coming out of the tunnel. Watch for the signs for the Empire Trail also
I rode my hybrid bike (no suspension, drop bars, 700c tires) from the trailhead at Simpson to Luciana Park in Lanesboro. I carried two 24oz water bottles, a full gallon of water in a jug, and some tools/spare parts (which were fortunately unnecessary). I tracked the ride with Strava, and all the data presented here is based on information recorded there. Before reading the rest, let me say that this is the first trail I've completed, and I plan on trying to do it again next year (unless I get too busy trying other trails)
I did the ride from south to north because the trail is a really nice crushed gravel from Simpson to Ararat. This section of the trail is 18.6 miles long and mostly uphill (starting at 1146' above sea level at Simpson, and peaking at 2057' in Ararat). All in all, I barely noticed the uphill climb for most of the length of the ride. There are some nice spots to stop and take pictures, including a few bodies of water, some bridges, and there is the sandwich shop in Union Dale that's got really good food.
North of Ararat, the trail is much rougher, and much easier to deal with going downhill (Luciana Park is 919' above sea level, 19.8 miles north of the trail's high point). There are sections that have been greatly improved from loggers leveling the trail to get their equipment through, but there were also spots I had to get off my bike and walk.
I think the northern half of the trail has much more to offer as far as the scenery goes. Especially between Ararat and Starrucca, and of course the Starrucca Viaduct (at Luciana Park) is worth seeing at least once. Hopefully the northern half of the trial is upgraded sooner rather than later.
Overall, the trip took me 5+1/2 hours, including about an hours worth of breaks spread throughout (including a meal break in Union Dale). I did end up drinking a little over a gallon of water over the course of the ride. Due to the lack of suspension or padding, my wrists were fairly sore by the end of the ride.
After reading the mixed reviews here about the trail being super bumpy and overrun by ATVs, my husband and I weren’t sure what to expect. We decided to risk it and really enjoyed the ride on our hybrids. We took a 24 mile there-and-back from Stamford to Bloomville in late October 2020. Weather was a bit chilly, and we saw a few walkers, who seemed like locals, one other biker, and one motorcyclist. No problem finding the trail in Stamford — it’s right at the Depot.
Pros: (1) The scenery is really nice and has a great variety. We also biked on the Ashkogan trail while vacationing in the Catskills, and while that trail is better maintained, there is a lot more to see on this ride. You basically go through farmland, by streams, through small communities. (2) It’s very flat and easy riding.
Cons: (1) The trail is decently maintained, and not nearly as bad as some reviewers have suggested, at least between Stamford/Bloomville. There were a few bumpy sections, and some sections overgrown with grass. It had rained the day before, and there were a couple of muddy patches. If you want to barrel through as fast as possible without watching the trail, this isn’t for you. But if you want to keep a moderate pace, the trail is just fine. At no point did we need to get off our bikes or find it so bumpy that it was not rideable. I would say that 85-90% of the trail is in quite good shape — kind of like biking on a country lane. (2) There are a few sections near Bloomville where the trail passes right by backyards of small houses with a lot of trash and junk in them. Just not the nicest vibe. (3) We encountered one guy on a motorbike cruising down the trail at probably 30 mph. From other reviews, seems like motorized vehicles might be more frequent at some times than others. If that’s the case, that would definitely have changed this from a really fun ride to one that I wouldn’t enjoy.
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