I just received this email that the Camillus Canal Trail extension was “officially” opened on October 16 –
New York State announced completion of a 3.5-mile section of the Empire State Trail that
is now open to the public. The new trail, which is also part of the Erie Canalway Trail, starts at
Reed Webster Park on Warners Road in Camillus, and runs east to Bridge Street. The 10-foot
wide trail has a compacted stonedust surface and gentle grades and is accessible to bicyclists,
walkers, and runners of all ages and abilities. Parts of the trail follow the original Erie Canal that
opened in 1820 and operated until 1910, when the canal was relocated to its current location
through Oneida Lake. The trail was constructed by Honeywell as part of their settlement through
the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan process.
From Bridge Street, the Empire State Trail route runs through the State Fairgrounds, and then
continues east on existing bicycle/pedestrian bridges across I-690, where it joins the Loop-theLake Trail on the south shore of Onondaga Lake. West of Reed Webster Park, the Empire State
Trail follows the existing Erie Canalway Trail toward Rochester.
The new trail segment is part of the Empire State Trail, a 750-mile bicycling and hiking trail from
Buffalo to Albany and from New York City through the Hudson and Champlain Valleys to
Canada. New York State and Onondaga County are constructing additional trail sections that,
when completed in December 2020, will create a continuous bicycling and walking trail from
Camillus through Syracuse to DeWitt. The projects will eliminate a 14-mile gap in the Empire
State Trail, and will connect downtown Syracuse to the State Fairgrounds starting in 2021.