A statewide organization that promotes the use of public lands has named Utica as one of its newest Empire State Trail Towns.
Parks & Trails New York recently announced that both Utica and the town of Lyons in Wayne County are getting the designation, designed to promote communities along the Empire State Trail, which includes areas that run along the Erie Canal across the Upstate New York region.
It’s not just the early history of the Erie Canal, with Utica becoming part of the canal system in the early 19th century that has interested Parks & Trails New York. The organization’s Executive Director, Paul Steely White said that Utica has great cultural diversity, along with restaurants, recreation and other activities.
He noted the Empire State Trail system generates millions of visits a year.
“And so it's really getting those millions of visitors, or at least a portion of them, to understand that if they get off the trail and take that half-mile or mile sort of spur into town that they will be richly rewarded,” White said.
White is hoping the designation as a trail town will encourage more people who are hiking or biking along the Empire State Trail to stop in downtown Utica and sample what the city has to offer. And that’s something Oneida County Tourism President Sarah Calero would like to see as well. She hopes that the new designation will spur that kind of interest, especially if it gets a little marketing push.
“Can we get some really good signage down by the canal…maybe a big QR code where it's leading to our website,?” Calero asked. “And it's like, ‘Hey, are you enjoying the canal? We'll come enjoy everything that Utica has to offer.’”
White said Parks & Trails New York can help facilitate interactions between Utica officials and representatives of the state’s economic development agencies, which could boost local marketing efforts. And he said it’s possible the state would work with Utica officials on projects such as “safe street improvements that will give people more of an inducement to walk or bike that last little bit into town.”
Utica Mayor Michael Galime called the recent designation as a Trail Town a huge win for the city. In a statement, Galime said that officials would like to see cyclists and hikers using the Empire State Trail to come into the city and “experience the incredible dining and culture Utica has to offer.”
Galime said that could turn trail traffic “into a real economic engine for our community.”
