Empire State TrailsHighlights of New York State

Buttermilk Falls State Park

Funding for this publication wasmade possible through a grantawarded from the RecreationalTrails Program which is part of theTransportation Equity Act for the21st Century (TEA-21).

Photographs in this publicationare printed with permission from theNew York State Office of Parks,Recreation and Historic Preserva-tion, the New York State Departmentof Environmental Conservation andAnne O’Dell, Chair of the New YorkState Trails Council.

7

Table of ContentsIntroduction

How to Use this Guide ............................................... 9The New York State Trails Council .......................... 10Snowmobile Trail System ......................................... 10Partnerships .............................................................. 10NORTHERN ZONE ................................................ 11

State Parks ......................................................... 12Grafton Lakes State Park ............................ 13Saratoga Spa State Park ............................. 14John Boyd Thacher State Park ................... 15Robert Moses State Park ............................ 16Wellesley Island State Park ......................... 17Point Au Roche State Park ......................... 18

State Lands and Forests ..................................... 20Trails in the Blue Mountain Lake Region .... 21Deer River Horse Trail ................................ 22Greenwood Creek State Forest ................... 23Otter Creek Horse Trails ............................. 24Taconic Ridge State Forest ......................... 25Trails in the Lake George Region ................ 26

SOUTHERN ZONE ................................................ 37State Parks ......................................................... 38

Connetquot River State Park Preserve ....... 39Montauk Point State Park ........................... 40Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve ........... 41Clarence Fahnestock State Park ................. 42Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park ... 43Minnewaska State Park .............................. 44

State Lands and Forests ..................................... 47Willowemoc Wild Forest .............................. 48Big Indian Wilderness Area ......................... 49

CENTRAL ZONE.................................................... 53State Parks ......................................................... 54

Buttermilk Falls State Park .......................... 55Green Lakes State Park .............................. 56Robert H. Treman State Park ..................... 57

Selkirk Shores State Park ............................ 58Taughannock Falls State Park ..................... 59

State Lands and Forests ..................................... 61Brookfield Trail System ............................... 62Sugar Hill State Reforestation Area ............ 63

WESTERN ZONE ................................................... 69State Parks ......................................................... 70

Allegany State Park ..................................... 71Niagara Gorge Trail System ........................ 72Letchworth State Park ................................ 73

State Lands and Forests ..................................... 75Boutwell Hill Management Unit(State Forests Chautauqua 1 and 7) ............ 76Rock City State Forest (Cattaraugus 5 and 8)77

Long Distance Trails ................................................. 81Northville-Placid Trail .................................. 81Finger Lakes Trail System ........................... 82The Long Path ............................................. 83

National Scenic Trails ............................................... 84North Country Scenic Trail .......................... 84Appalachian Scenic Trail ............................. 85

Greenways ................................................................ 86Hudson River Valley Greenway .................. 86Genesee Valley Greenway .......................... 87

The Canalway Trail .................................................. 88Erie Canal Heritage Trail ............................. 88Old Erie Canal State Historic Park ............. 89Mohawk-Hudson Bikeway .......................... 90Glens Falls Feeder Canal Trail .................... 91

Trails and Routes ...................................................... 92Lake Champlain Bike Route ....................... 92Long Island Greenbelt Trail System ............ 93

Notes ......................................................................... 94Helpful Advice .......................................................... 97Equipment Checklist ................................................. 97A Guide to Weather in the Empire State .................. 98Useful Telephone Numbers ...................................... 99

8

Introduction

8

Trails have multiple values with benefits that reach far beyondrecreation. Trails can enrich the quality of life for individuals, makecommunities more livable, and protect, nurture and showcase New YorkState’s grandeur by traversing areas of natural beauty, distinctivegeography, historic significance and ecological diversity. Trails areimportant for the State’s health, economy, resource protection andeducation, and to help meet the needs of a changing society.

The formal origins of recreational trail use in the State occurred over100 years ago when the Legislature appropriated $250.00 for completing a“public path” to the summit of Slide Mountain in the Catskill Mountains, atrail popularized in the early nature writings of John Borroughs. TheHudson River Valley, the Great Lakes, Long Island, the AdirondackMountains, the Taconic Range, the Finger Lakes, the Thousand Islandsand other physiographic regions of the State offer a diversity of trailexperiences in forested mountains, secluded lakes and rivers, farmcountry, wetlands with their abundant wildlife, and miles of lake and oceanbeaches. Trails provide recreation as well as transportation linkages tohistoric sites, city parks and downtown areas. Trails were transportationcorridors of earlier times. Today, increasing numbers of bicyclists,pedestrians, equestrians, snowmobilers, and the disabled seek outdoorrecreation opportunities and transportation alternatives through trails.

A complex trail system has evolved on public and private land acrossthe State. There are long-distance foot trails like the Appalachian ScenicTrail, North Country Scenic Trail, Finger Lakes Trail, Long Path and LongIsland Greenbelt Trail System which connect communities, counties andNew York to other States. Greenways, such as the Genesee ValleyGreenway and the Hudson River Valley Greenway, provide multiple uselinkages between communities and open spaces. Bike Route 5 and BikeRoute 9 provide the foundation of a statewide system of bicycle andpedestrian transportation trails. The Seaway trail, a National ScenicByway, provides a 454-mile route paralleling Lake Erie, the Niagara River,Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River for automobiles, bicycles,recreational vehicles and motor coaches. The Canalway Trail, will providea 524-mile multi-use land trail along side the canal system, a water basedtrail system. The statewide snowmobile trail system extends over 11,000miles and is maintained largely by private clubs. These are only asampling of the various types of trails and resources that comprise thediversity of trail opportunities in New York State.

Many trail opportunities exist within the open space resourcesmanaged by the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation andthe Department of Environmental Conservation. Over 1,600 miles of trailare maintained within the 178 state parks and 35 historic sites administeredby the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. TheDepartment of Environmental Conservation manages thousands of milesof recreation trails on nearly four million acres of land statewide. One ofthe best ways to explore and experience the beauty and diversity of NewYork State is to discover its trails.

9

How to Use this Guide

DEC Regional Boundaries

OPRHP Regional Boudaries

This guide is not meant to beused in the field as a substitutefor a detailed trail map-- it is onlya sample. It is, however, meant toprovide general information about asmall sample of the numerous trailopportunities in New York State.This guide’s primary focus is onNYS OPRHP and DEC trails.Major statewide trail systems arealso described.

The information provided in thisguide is organized by four zones,northern, southern, central and west-ern. A contact is identified for eachfacility so more detailed informationcan be obtained. Also, phone numbersare listed for both the DEC and StateParks Regional Offices so that trailinformation for facilities not describedin this guide can be obtained. Themaps show DEC’s and OPRHP’sjurisdictional regions.

For the purposes of this guide theSouthern Zone incorporates DECRegions 1, 2, 3 and portions of Region4 and the Long Island, New York City,Taconic, Palisades and Catskill Park*Regions of OPRHP. The NorthernZone is defined by DEC Regions 4, 5, 6and portions of Region 3 and theSaratoga-Capital District, ThousandIslands and Adirondack Park* Regionsof OPRHP. DEC’s Region 7, portionsof Region 8 and OPRHP’s Central andFinger Lakes Regions make up theCentral Zone. Lastly, the WesternZone is made up of portions of DEC’sRegion 8, all of Region 9 andOPRHP’s Genesee, Niagara Frontierand Allegany Regions.

* Note: The recreationalfacilities within the Adirondack Parkand Catskill Park Regions areadministered by DEC.

The New York State Trails CouncilThe New York State Trails Council

was formed in 1981 to ensure citizenparticipation in trail planning and manage-ment. The Council is an advocate for trailinterests to all levels of government. Italso provides a reliable source of informa-tion on trail-based recreation; coordinatesefforts to develop, construct and maintainrecreational trails; fosters trail user ethics,and provides a forum for mediatingdifferences among trail user groups.

The Council consists of delegatesrepresenting various trail activitiesincluding ATV trail riding, bicycling,cross-country skiing, equestrian trail use,hiking, running, snowmobiling,snowshoeing, trail-bike riding and watertrails. These representatives are trailusers, not commercial interests.

The New York State Office of Parks,Recreation and Historic Preservation, theNew York State Department of Environ-mental Conservation, the New York StateCanal Corporation, the New York StateDepartment of Transportation, theHudson River Valley Greenway Conser-vancy, the New York State Senate, the

Federal Highway Administration, the NewYork State Parks and ConservationAssociation and the Tourisim Advocateare also represented on the Council.These agency representatives serve asadvisors to the council. They do not havevoting privileges but may participate indiscussions and raise issues for theCouncil to consider. The Trails Council isprovided with technical support throughthe Office of Parks, Recreation andHistoric Preservation and the Departmentof Environmental Conservation.

For further information about theNew York State Trails Council, pleasecontact:

New York State Trails CoordinatorBureau of Planning and Design

NYS Office of Parks, Recreation andHistoric PreservationAgency Building 1Empire State PlazaAlbany, NY 12238

(518) 474-0414

PartnershipsMany NYS OPRHP and DEC trail systems are managed and maintained through part-

nerships with a number of trail organizations. Groups such as the NY-NJ Trail Conference,the Finger Lakes Trail Conference and the Adirondack Mountain Club, among others,assist the agencies. This publication contains contact information for some of thesegroups.

Snowmobile Trail SystemWith over 126,000 registered

snowmobilers, winter trails are in demand.To help meet this demand New York Statehas over 8,000 miles of funded snowmo-bile trails. These trails are maintained inpartnership with individual snowmobilersand snowmobile groups who volunteertheir time and efforts. Each trail is markedto provide comfort and an opportunity todiscover the rich beauty of our winterwonderlands. Signing trails for thispurpose is a monstrous job and manythanks to all who have joined with OPRHPto accomplish this task. With thecontinued help of all our volunteers,OPRHP will be able to continue to provideenjoyable winter riding experiences.

New York State Parks have several

excellent snowmobile trail systems. Oneof our most popular systems is withinAllegany State Park. As noted later in thisdocument, Allegany State Park is a primeexample of a well-maintained trail systemthat boasts over 60 miles of snowmobiletrails. The snowmobile trail network withinand surrounding Letchworth State Park ismaintained through cooperation amongthe local snowmobile clubs and park staff.

To learn more about OPRHP’ssnowmobile trail program within our parksand throughout the state, visit us on ourweb site at www.nysparks.com/snow, call(518) 474-0446 or call New York’s Tourismoffice at (518) 473-0715.

10