New York State has many public lands. They are either State Forests, State Parks, or County Forest Lands. And there are fun biking trails thru them.
It has gotten to the point now where a typical ride for us starts with pavement, then transitions to unpaved roads, with the apex of the ride thru some of these public lands. Rides with this diversity only adds to our thesis that Cooperstown is a great biking destination.
When you see any of the signs shown above, you know there are public lands. When riding, look into the woods, you can see where the trails start. Some of them are clearly marked. Others are nothing more than two unmarked tracks into the woods. An axiom for us is that when you don’t see no trespassing signs for awhile as you ride along, there is a good chance that the land is public.
We have ridden on trails in the State Forests of Arnold Lake, Roseboom, Hooker Mountain, Hartwick, R. Milton Hick, and the county lands off of Indian Run Road. These are all within the range of a typical ride. This photo is taken on Andy’s Trail in the Betty & Wilbur Davis State Park.
We have found most of these trails as a result of exploration. Of course, you can take the scientific approach and just look it up. The image below is from the DEC’s website, and it shows State Forests and State Parks. This is a link to Otsego County’s website showing the county land holdings.
