The Greenway Cycle Challenge was developed in 2023 as a way to bring awareness to the Genesee Valley Greenway trail system as well as provide much-needed funding to the non-profit that primarily helps support the trail: Friends of the Genesee Valley Greenway (FoGVG). After a year of planning, we are excited that 2024 is our first year to kick off the event. Our goal is to hold it annually in order to build ongoing community involvement in supporting this great cause.
The Genesee Valley Greenway State Park History
The Genesee Valley Greenway State Park is a 90-mile open space corridor that began in 1878 and follows the route of the former Genesee Valley Canal (1840-1878) and the former Pennsylvania Railroad Rochester Branch (1882-1963) from the Erie Canalway Trail in Rochester's Genesee Valley Park to the Village of Cuba in Allegany County. Shown above is a D&C newspaper photo from September 13, 1896, when more than 1500 riders bicycled 10 miles from Rochester to Scottsville on the trail. Their procession stretched more than 4.5 miles long!
It includes a public, multi-use trail and natural and historic resources. The majority of the trail is an old railway bed that is a straight, level surface consisting of cinders, gravel, and mowed grass. The Greenway passes through woodlands, wetlands, river and stream valleys, rolling farmlands, steep gorges, and historic villages in sixteen towns located in Monroe, Livingston, Wyoming, Allegany, and Cattaraugus counties.
A Public-Private Partnership
The Friends of the Genesee Valley Greenway initiative grew out of the interest and enthusiasm generated by initial trail development efforts. Incorporated in 1993 as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit membership organization, it has since devoted its efforts to developing additional owned miles and maintaining existing miles of open (or usable) trail.
FoGVG also preserves and interprets historic and natural resources along the Greenway, and develops communications, programs, activities, and community partnerships to stimulate increased use and enjoyment.
A partnership between FoGVG, OPRHP, and the DEC began in 1994 when these entities co-authored a successful $2.1 million federal Transportation Enhancement grant. Each partner contributed unique and important resources to the Greenway.
Friends Organization
Board of Directors
The Friends is governed by an 8 to 15-member Board of Directors composed of individuals living within the Greenway region. The Directors offer a wealth of relevant practical knowledge gained through personal experience and specialized expertise in areas related to their vocational, recreational, and intellectual pursuits. Three-year terms begin Oct 1 and end Sept 30.
Current Board Officers
- Joan Schumaker - Secretary
Mission
The mission of the Friends is to assist in the development, protection, promotion, and maintenance of New York’s Genesee Valley Greenway State Park in accordance with guidelines established in the OPRHP Genesee Valley Greenway Management Plan and to support and promote other non-motorized recreational opportunities for the general public along the Genesee Valley Greenway.
Friends Major Goals
Public Recreation
- Provide opportunities for walking, hiking, jogging, bicycling, horseback riding, nature observation, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling along the abandoned canal towpath and rail bed
- Increase access to and encourage recreational use of the Genesee River
Community Resource Protection
- Protect, promote, and link canal and other historic and cultural resources along the Greenway corridor
- Protect natural resources and maintain habitat linkages in the Greenway corridor
- Increase community knowledge of Greenway-related local and natural history
Economic Development
- Stimulate economic development through the promotion of tourism and Greenway trail-related businesses
- Provide opportunities for job skills training
