Conservation Trail Northern Trailhead - Niagara Falls, NY - Long Distance Hiking Trails on Waymarking.com

The northern terminus of the Conservation Trail is only a short distance away from Niagara Falls. There is no signage at all in the area indicating this is the start or end of a long trail. In addition, the trail is very sparsely marked in this area. In fact I've never seen any blazes in this area. The only blazes are at the trailhead, indicated by three orange circles on the end of a concrete retaining wall.

The trail heads south for a very small distance towards Niagara Falls, then turns in an easterly direction on a paved path along the shores of the Niagara River. Once the trail reaches the north Grand Island Bridge, it heads across the Niagara River to Buckhorn State Park where the trail markings are much more common. Once again the trail travels alongside the river to the southern end of Grand Island, heads back north to cross the South Grand Island Bridge, then easterly through Tonawanda, Amherst, Clarence, Newstead, and Akron mostly along a rails-to-trails. Just after Akron Falls Park, the trail heads south towards its southern terminus.

The north terminus of the trail isn't really the end of a trail. You do have the option of crossing the Rainbow Bridge into Canada and taking a bike trail north about 6 miles. There you meet the south end of the popular Bruce Trail which extends 500 miles into northern Canada. The southern terminus is near Ellicottville, near Allegany State Park. Here, it joins with the Finger Lakes Trail, which is part of the North Country National Scenic Trail.

Since the trail travels through mostly suburban developed areas for the first 30-40 miles, there are no legal places to set up camp overnight. There are several parking areas along the way, but it is unknown if there is legal overnight parking available at any of them. According to the Finger Lakes Trail Conference maps, the first legal public camping areas are in Darien Lake State Park, at around mile 50. There is also a lean-to in the park.

Recommended number of days to complete: 5.00 Distance in miles or kilometres: 119 miles Shelters?: Yes Designated campsites?: Yes Number of designated campsites: 129 Permit Required?: No Trail Website: [Web Link] Best Season to Hike?: All seasons offer both pros and cons. Autumn and spring are probably best. Intermediate Trailhead 1: N 43° 01.244 W 078° 52.803 Intermediate Trailhead 2: N 43° 00.910 W 078° 38.215 Intermediate Trailhead 3: N 43° 00.917 W 078° 29.115 Intermediate Trailhead 4: N 42° 54.045 W 078° 25.360 Intermediate Trailhead 5: N 42° 44.200 W 078° 33.080 Coordinates of the other end's trailhead: Not Listed Overnight parking fee: Not Listed Permit Fees?: Not Listed Overnight parking coordinates: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
To log this waymark, you will require a photo of yourself or a member of your team at the trailhead. We would also appreciate a description of your visit to the trailhead, If you walked the trail, tell us about your experience, how long did it take you, did you do it solo, in a group? Please pass on any information useful to others who may choose to follow. The bottom line is tell us about your visit!

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   10/07/2011 InGodsHands visited it 08/01/2010 run26.2 visited it

View all visits/logs