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There’s a new 1,210 km bike trail that runs from Canada to New York City

Start planning that post-pandemic bike trip

Photo by: Roadskater via Wikimedia Commons

In 2017 New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a new multi-use trail that would connect Manhattan to the Canadian border. The 1,210 km Empire State Trail was finally completed on December 30, 2020. Though Canadian cyclists can’t yet access the trail, no one is stopping them from planning out a trip for when international travel is back to normal.

The trail runs from Manhattan north, NY to Rouses Point, NY (near the northern tip of Lake Champlain) and to Buffalo, NY. Canadian cyclists planning their journey through the state can depart from the Montérégie, Quebec region, which is just a 75km ride from Montreal or from Niagara Falls, On., a 135km ride from Toronto.

Two Canadian departure points

The Empire State Trail is the longest multi-use trail in the United States and includes many pre-existing trail segments, which plan to retain their existing identity but are now co-signed as a segment of the trial. It won’t be exclusive to bikes—hikers, snowshoers, cross-country skiers and, in some areas, snowmobilers will also have access to the paths.

There are three main segments of the trail. The Hudson River Valley Greenway, which runs from New York City to Albany, the Erie Canalway Trail, which runs from Buffalo to Albany, and the Champlain Valley Trail, which runs from Albany to the Canadian border in Rouses Point.

Cyclists making the trip from Ontario will start off on the Erie Canalway Trail, riding almost entirely off-road. The trail will then connect to the Hudson River Valley Greenway, which is also mostly off-road save for an on-road section between Kingston and Hudson.

Riders coming from Quebec will experience more on-road riding on the Champlain Valley Trail until they meet up with the Hudson River Valley Greenway.

The Empire State Trail also links to other regional bicycling and hiking trails such as the Appalachian Trail, the Adirondack and Catskill Parks, the Great Lakes Seaway Trail, the Genesee Valley Greenway, and others. A segment near its southernmost part of the trail is concurrent with the East Coast Greenway, a route that runs all the way to the souther tip of Florida, leaving bike trip planners with a plethora of mapping martial to play with while they wait for their vaccines.