The Empire State Trail is a

multi-use trail A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is "designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists". Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, bridleways and rail trails. A ...

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

that was proposed in January 2017 and completed in December 2020. The trail runs from

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

north to the Canada–United States border in Rouses Point near the northern tip of

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

, and also from Buffalo to Albany. At , it is the longest multi-use trail in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The trail includes pre-existing trail segments, which retain their existing identity but are now co-signed as a segment of the Empire State Trail. The trail also links to other regional bicycling and hiking trails such as the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tra ...

, the Adirondack and

Catskill Park The Catskill Park is in the Catskill Mountains in the U.S. state of New York. It consists of of land inside a Blue Line in four counties: Delaware, Greene, Sullivan, and Ulster. As of 2005, or 41 percent of the land within, is owned by ...

s, the Great Lakes Seaway Trail, the Genesee Valley Greenway, and others. A segment near its southernmost part, on the Hudson River Greenway in Manhattan, is concurrent with the

East Coast Greenway The East Coast Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle route between Maine and Florida along the East Coast of the United States. The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance was created in 1991 with the goal to use the entire route with off-road, s ...

. The trail is used for hiking, biking,

snowshoeing Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footw ...

, cross-country skiing and in some areas

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. Completing the trail required 40 construction projects to create new trails and to eliminate gaps in existing segments. On December 30, 2020, Governor Cuomo announced that these construction projects were finished, and that the Empire State Trail was officially completed and open to the public.

Route

The trail is organized in three main segments: the Hudson River Valley Greenway Trail, the Erie Canalway Trail, and the Champlain Valley Trail. The Hudson River Valley Greenway runs from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to Albany along numerous greenways and rail trails, including the Hudson River Greenway in

, the North County Trailway and South County Trailway in

Westchester County Westchester County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The county is the seventh most populous cou ...

, the Walkway Over the Hudson, the Albany–Hudson Electric Trail, and others. It loosely follows the eastern shore of the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

with a brief section in

Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. The count ...

on the western shore. This section of trail is primarily off-road, but contains one significant on-road section between

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

and

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian f ...

. The Erie Canalway Trail runs from Buffalo to Albany (via Rochester and

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

) along towpaths and rail trails following both the old

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

and the later New York State Canal System. After the completion of the Empire State Trail, this section is almost entirely off-road, with notable on-road gaps remaining between Clyde and Port Byron, Schuyler and Frankfort, and Cohoes and Watervliet. The Champlain Valley Trail runs from Albany to the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

in Rouses Point. This section initially follows the Champlain Canal from Albany to

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

, and then follows

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The section along the canal utilizes the Champlain Canalway Trail, but north of Whitehall the trail is entirely on-road, following State Bike Route 9 the rest of the way. The trail connects 22 counties and many cities throughout the state, including

, Buffalo, Albany, and points in between. There is also a proposal to extend the trail from its southern terminus into Long Island.

Trail maintenance

The trail connects existing trail segments operated by a variety of state entities, local governments, and non-profit organizations such as the New York State Canalway Trail, Dutchess Rail Trail, Wallkill Valley Rail Trail and others. The trail maintenance activities continue to be undertaken by the entity that operates each local segment of the larger Empire State Trail.

Trails included

Empire State Trail trailhead at New Paltz

Hudson Valley Greenway Trail (New York City to Albany)

* Hudson River Greenway * Putnam Greenway (NYC) * North County Trailway * South County Trailway * Putnam County Trailway * Maybrook Trailway * Dutchess Rail Trail * Walkway over the Hudson *

Hudson Valley Rail Trail The Hudson Valley Rail Trail is a paved east–west rail trail in the Lloyd, New York, town of Lloyd in Ulster County, New York, Ulster County, New York (state), New York, stretching from the Hudson River through the Highland, Ulster County, New ...

* Wallkill Valley Rail Trail * Kingston Point Rail Trail * Albany-Hudson Electric Trail

Erie Canalway Trail (Albany to Buffalo)

* Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail * New York State Canalway Trail - Erie Canalway Trails * Onondaga Creekwalk * Shoreline Trail

Champlain Valley Trail (Albany to Champlain)

* Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail * New York State Canalway Trail - Champlain Canalway Trails *Delaware Avenue-Black Bridge Trail - Van Schaick Island *Terry Gordon Trail

External links

Official site

Interactive Map

Open source map of cycling route

Open source map of walking route

Visual tour
(New York Times, 2021)

References

{{coord missing, New York (state) Nature reserves in New York (state) Tourism in New York (state) Hiking trails in New York (state)