Two Of The Best Rail Trails In The U.S. Are In New York State
The Southern Tier of New York has an abundance of trails to enjoy for walking, jogging, running, and bicycling. There's the Binghamton University Nature Preserve, Jones Park, IBM Glen, Hawkins Pond, and Chenango Valley State Park to name a few.
The All Trails website lists the top 10 best walking trails around the Binghamton area, including Otsiningo Park, Aquaterra Pond, Nathaniel Cole Park, and Two Rivers Greenway.
Soon, we will have another walkway/bicycle trail when the Route 434 Greenway Project is completed. It will extend two and a half miles from Binghamton's Pennsylvania Avenue on the Southside, to Vestal's Murray Hill Road, next to Binghamton University.
And then there's the Vestal Rail Trail, which has an East and West section. The East section is 2.1 miles long and extends from North Main Street to African Road, and the West section is 1.75 miles and extends from Main Street to Castle Gardens Road.
And speaking of rail trails, the website Outside Online recently listed the top 25 best rail-trails in the United States. The Vestal Rail Trail is not listed, but I think it's worth being one of the best in the country.
But there are two rail trails in New York State that made it on the top 25 list. One is number one on the list, and the other is number 25 according to the Outside Online article.
The best rail-trail in the United States is the Empire State Trail which extends 750 miles. The article mentions that the Empire State Trail consists of 75 percent off-road and 25 percent on-road.
According to the New York State Empire Trail website, it consisted of three sections. One trail runs from New York City to Albany, called the Hudson Vally Trail, there's the Champlain Valley Trail that runs north from Albany to the Canadian Border and the third section runs from Albany to Buffalo.
The second, coming in at number 25 is the Keuka Lake Outlet Trail which is seven miles long in the Finger Lakes Region and runs from Penn Yan to Dresden. Our trails are a great place to enjoy the outdoors, get in some exercise, and even meet some new people. Enjoy!
via All Trails, Outside Online, NYS Empire Trail, Keuka Lake Outlet Trail