Exploring a Southern Tier Greenway: Pat McGee Trail
Looking for a rural greenway with a cornucopia of recreational opportunities? Then the Pat McGee Trail, a 12.1-mile rail trail near Salamanca, N.Y. that was recently purchase by the Office of Parks, Recreation, Historic Preservation, is the trail for you. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience on the trail.
The trail, located in the Southern Tier region, is generally flat, with only a 325-foot change in elevation over the 12 miles, and has a surface that varies between mowed grass, crushed stone, and hard-packed dirt. Recommended activities include cycling, hiking, horseback riding, and snowmobiling. For cycling, a hybrid or mountain bike is most appropriate due to the varied trail surface.
As a long-distance hiker, I appreciated the variety of landscapes the trail had to offer. There is interpretive signage running north to south explaining the 10 ecosystems and nine geological features along the trail. The highest elevation of the trail marks the continental divide between the Lake Erie and Allegheny River watersheds. Other highlights include a kettle lake, U- and V-shaped valleys, shrub swamps, emergent marshes, beech and mesophytic forests, and numerous streams. Trail users will also pass crop and livestock agricultural fields, along with a small-scale alpaca farm, and pass behind residential and town properties. The trail contains six former rail bridges rehabilitated for trail use.
With over 200 species of plants and 40 species of mammals, the trail hosts a plethora of life. It is listed as a NYS Birding Trail with over 150 species of birds recorded. During my visit in late August, native plants such as milkweed and goldenrod were in full bloom and buzzing with insect life.
The well-marked and maintained Pat McGee Trail runs in a valley surrounded by hills through seven municipalities. It starts at the City of Salamanca line, goes through the Town of Salamanca, through both the village and town of Little Valley, the towns of Mansfield and New Albion, and ends just outside the Village of Cattaraugus. Although the trail intersects roads numerous times, it is entirely off-road, with no on-road segments. There are five trailheads: (from south to north) Center Street in Salamanca / NYS Route 353, Woodworth Hollow Road, Main Street in Little Valley, Linlyco Lake Road, and Leon Road.
Located in the middle of the trail at Little Valley’s trailhead is a 1.8-acre community park with a pavilion and two gazebos. This is the perfect spot for a snack/lunch break, with views of tree-covered hills and an opportunity to slip into town and visit a shop. Other than at this municipal park, there are no seating areas along the trail. There are no bathroom facilities directly along the trail. For camping, a lean-to is located about a half-mile south of the Leon Road trailhead.
The Pat McGee Trail provides hiking links to both Allegany State Park in New York and Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania. Between Salamanca and Little Valley, the trail overlaps for 1.8 miles with the Finger Lakes Trail, a 580-mile hiking trail, and the North Country Trail, a 4,800-mile hiking trail across eight northern states. Signage for the FLT and NCT overlap is sparse; the overlap runs from Woodworth Hollow Road trailhead parking to the hiking trails’ entrance at Elkdale State forest. The Pat McGee Trail also intersects numerous snowmobile and equestrian trails.
The Pat McGee trail was developed on the former Erie-Lackawanna Railroad bed between 2000 and 2005 and officially opened in 2005. It was built with federal aid under local government sponsorship and project administration by Cattaraugus Local Development Corp; the organization still maintains the trail. The rail trail was purchased by the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in 2021 for additional greenway protection. The trail is named after former New York Senator Patricia “Pat” McGee.
More information:
- Official NYS Parks page: https://parks.ny.gov/parks/patmcgeetrail/details.aspx
- Promotional website: https://enchantedmountains.com/trails/pat-mcgee-trail
- Promotional video: https://enchantedmountains.com/video/overview-and-history-pat-mcgee-trail-5526
- Biking reviews from: https://www.traillink.com/trail/pat-mcgee-trail/
- More reviews/info form: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-york/pat-mcgee-trail