NY eyes largest state-run trail in U.S.

ALBANY -- New York wants to have the largest state-run, multi-use trail in the nation by 2020.

The trail would be 750 miles when it is completed, running from New York City to the North Country and from Albany to Buffalo, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday.

"It would be a finished pathway that travels through our parks, our valleys, along our waterways, through our beautiful tourist destinations all across the state," Cuomo said in a speech at SUNY Purchase in Westchester County.

"You could run, you could bike, you could walk, you could do segments of it. You could make it an entire vacation."

The project would cost $200 million, Cuomo said, and it would funded over three years: starting with $53 million this year to run through the Hudson Valley.

It would add 350 miles to the existing the Hudson River Valley Greenway and Erie Canalway when it's completed.

The trail would be a 750-mile hiking and biking pathway winding through historic communities from the New York Harbor to the Canadian border and along the Erie Canal.

The proposal would need approval by the state Legislature for the fiscal year that starts April 1.

Cuomo said the infrastructure is already there: the Hudson River Valley Greenway is 50 percent complete and the Erie Canalway is 80 percent complete.

The greenway, which already spans 260 miles between the Manhattan Battery and Lake George. generates an annual revenue of more than $21 million from tourism.

The canalway, which connects Buffalo to Albany, brings in roughly $253 million a year and is already visited by 1.5 million people a year.

The Democratic governor said the plan would boost upstate tourism.

Cuomo said the work would coincide with the bicentennial of the Erie Canal, which was started in 1817.

Parks groups applauded Cuomo's announcement.

“The Erie Canalway Trail is such a unique asset for New York state and, once connected to the Hudson River Valley Greenway as the Empire State Trail, seals New York’s position as a leader in outdoor recreation," Robin Dropkin, the executive director of the Parks & Trails New York, said in a statement.