Triple Divide Trail System (TDTS)

Dogs Leashed

E-Bikes Not Allowed

Features Commonly Bikepacked · Views

Wide range of amenities; e.g., few bike shops between Letchworth SP and Pine Creek Gorge. Wide range of management (e.g., municipal, state forestry, and state park) and support groups (various clubs, outfitters, and non-profit conservation groups in NY and PA). E-Bike policies vary by state and section of trail.

TDTS is being developed by collaborative work of agencies and organizations in NY and PA, based on planning efforts that began in 2008 (epitomized in Triple Divide Trail System Strategic Plan, 2010-2011, with later updates for a few undeveloped sections of the route in 2015 and 2018-2019).

Collaboration across state lines is coordinated by various agency officials and representatives of non-profit groups. Frequent contacts include county planning offices along the corridor. There is no single organization dedicated solely to the entire trail system, so each section is under different management.

The TDTS is an emerging eco-corridor extending from Lake Ontario in Rochester, NY, to the Susquehanna River just west of Williamsport, PA, via the Genesee River (NY & PA), a triple continental divide (Potter County, PA), and Pine Creek (PA).

The eponymous triple divide peak nurtures the sources of the Allegheny River, Genesee River, and Pine Creek (largest tributary of W. Branch of Susquehanna River).

In Rochester, the TDTS intersects with the Erie Canalway, which is part of the 750-mile-long Empire State Trail. At its southern end, the TDTS intersects in Jersey Shore, PA, with the Susquehanna Greenway.

Highlights include the canyon of Letchworth State Park, NY, and its complement in Pine Creek Gorge, PA. The signature role of the triple continental divide enables the TDTS to tell a story about the connectivity of water, rivers, and ecosystems in a way that few other trails can do.

The bicycle route of the TDTS consists of the following sections from north to south:

(1) The Genesee Riverway Trail in Rochester, NY (paved);

(2) the Genesee Valley Greenway from Rochester to Mt. Morris, NY (rail-trail, crushed stone and exposed gravel);

(3) Letchworth State Park from Mt. Morris to Portageville, NY, via Park Road (paved; more challenging alternatives for this section are [a] the Letchworth Branch of the Finger Lakes Trail, sometimes used as a singletrack mountain bike trail but only maintained for hiking; [b] the Genesee Valley Greenway, which is fragmented from Mt. Morris to Portageville);

(4) a mixed-surface multi-use trail, from Portageville, NY, to Ansonia, PA (partly paved, mostly on low-traffic rural roads; partly gravel, including both municipal and state forestry roads; and partly rail-trail, on the WAG Trail from Wellsville, NY to the NY/PA line);

(5) the Pine Creek Gorge via the Pine Creek Trail (rail-trail, crushed stone).

The diverse surfaces of the TDTS are best enjoyed on a bicycle with mountain bike tires or tough gravel bike tires. The long-term plan is to gradually shift many of the miles now on roads to parallel off-road trails that are still only fragmentary or undeveloped at present (e.g., the section of the Genesee Valley Greenway from Portageville to Belfast, NY, which is not used in the current TDTS route). But with the completely bike-able route now provided on the new 2019 route, there is no need to wait to enjoy a "Triple Divide Ride."