The Genesee Valley Greenway is a

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

in western

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Genesee River The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides h ...

valley. The trail stretches for along a former

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

right-of-way as well as adjacent land from the

Genesee Valley Canal The Genesee Valley Canal is a former canal that operated in central New York between 1840 and 1878. It ran for a length of 124 miles, passing through 106 locks. Its course was later used by the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad and today comprises po ...

. The low grade path is a multi-use trail which is well suited for hiking, biking, horsebacking riding and cross-country skiing. The Greenway is administered by the

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYS OPRHP) is a state agency within the New York State Executive Department Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law § 3.03. "The office of parks, recreation a ...

(NYS OPRHP) and the Friends of the Genesee Valley Greenway. The

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (informally referred to as NYSDEC, DEC, EnCon or NYSENCON) is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protection ...

was a partner in the Greenway's management prior to transferring jurisdiction of their lands to NYS OPRHP in 2010. The project began in 1991 as a way to reuse mostly abandoned land from the old railways. Construction and renovation of land for the trail was underway in 1998. The Genesee Valley Greenway intersects with the

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 navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...

Heritage Trail south of the city of Rochester at the

Genesee Valley Park Genesee Valley Park, originally named "South Park," is located in the south side of Rochester, New York along the shores of the Genesee River. The New York State Barge Canal (the currently in-use portion of the Erie Canal) crosses the Genesee Rive ...

, thereby forming part of a network of green corridors for hikers and cyclists stretching across New York State. As of 2016, the Greenway passes through Monroe,

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

and Allegany counties, connecting the City of Rochester and the Village of Cuba, with plans to eventually extend the trail to Hinsdale in

Cattaraugus County Cattaraugus County (locally known as Catt County) is a county in Western New York, with one side bordering Pennsylvania. As of the United States 2020 census, the population was 77,042. The county seat is Little Valley. The county was created ...

Trail conditions

Because the northern portions of the Greenway are converted

railroad track A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...

bed, it is relatively smooth, straight, and level. Portions of the trail near to, and south of,

Letchworth State Park Letchworth State Park is a List of New York state parks, New York State Park located in Livingston County, New York, Livingston County and Wyoming County, New York, Wyoming County in the western part of the New York (state), State of New York. T ...

are very hilly and strenuous. Where the trail crosses

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

s and

waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...

s, many of the structures used to support the previous railway are either reused, or new

prefabricated Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located. The term is u ...

bridges have been placed on old bridge

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

s. Roads that cross the Greenway fall in two general categories: Roads constructed while the railway or Greenway was in operation, which typically have the road on an even

grade Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also ref ...

with the Greenway or (for larger highways) a bridge where one crosses the other; and roads constructed while the railway was abandoned, whose intersections may be difficult to cross because of differences in elevation between the roadway and the Greenway, sometimes accomplished via steep inclines or switchbacks.

Places of historic interest

Because of the historic nature of much of the land that the Greenway traverses, points of interest along the trail are marked by plaques with descriptions of the significance of the site, along with historic photographs and maps. Among the marked sites are: * Abandoned

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

* Old railway

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

s and bridge

s * Sites important to the

that previously occupied the land *

Erie-Lackawanna Railroad The Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route" ...

bridge over the Genesee River

References

External links

New York State Parks: Genesee Valley Greenway State ParkGenesee Valley Greenway mapFriends of Genesee Valley Greenway website
contains information about the Greenway and maps of it.
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's page on the Genesee Valley Greenway
{{Protected areas of New York Greenways Genesee River Protected areas of Monroe County, New York Protected areas of Allegany County, New York Protected areas of Livingston County, New York Protected areas of Wyoming County, New York