The trail stretches for 90 miles (140 km) along a former Pennsylvania Railroad right-of-way as well as adjacent land from the Genesee Valley Canal. The low grade path is a multi-use trail which is well suited for hiking, biking, horsebacking riding and cross-country skiing.[1]
Because the northern portions of the Greenway are converted railroad track bed, it is relatively smooth, straight, and level.
Portions of the trail near to, and south of, Letchworth State Park are very hilly and strenuous.
Where the trail crosses highways and waterways, many of the structures used to support the previous railway are either reused, or new prefabricated bridges have been placed on old bridge abutments. Roads that cross the Greenway fall in two general categories: Roads constructed while the railway or Greenway was in operation, which typically have the road on an even grade with the Greenway or (for larger highways) a bridge where one crosses the other; and roads constructed while the railway was abandoned, whose intersections may be difficult to cross because of differences in elevation between the roadway and the Greenway, sometimes accomplished via steep inclines or switchbacks.
Places of historic interest
Because of the historic nature of much of the land that the Greenway traverses, points of interest along the trail are marked by plaques with descriptions of the significance of the site, along with historic photographs and maps.