Rochester NY is located on the Genesee River, one of the few rivers in the world that flow north. Birthplace of companies such as Kodak and Xerox, the area is known for its white collar tech industry and is often referred to as the “playground” between Buffalo and Syracuse. This playground is rich in outdoor activities, parks, and my personal passion, horses.  

5 of the 22 parks, that Monroe County manages, are open to horses, with over 50 miles of trails. Local State parks and forests add an additional 100 more miles and double that with the addition of Greenways, you can see why I love the area I live in. 

Welcome the Rochester Trail Riders Podcast, my name is Lindsay LaBella and I’m going to take you on my journey, as I challenge myself, to cover all of the parks and trails available to horse traffic in the Greater Rochester Area.  Throughout this podcast you’ll hear what trails I rode, with descriptions of the parking situation, the trails, obstacles, conditions, gear, challenges along the way and everything in between. 

Each episode will be about a specific park or trail.  Round trip goal for each adventure will be about 4hrs. I’ll include what trails I took, if I rode or was able to take a carriage, ride time, distance and encounters along the trail.  That way you’ll be able to skip around to an episode for a trail or park you’re looking to try. 

A little about me.  I was born and raised in the Rochester area but wasn’t born into a horse family, though my mom did finally relent to my constant lust for horses and let me take lessons. The passion for horses never left me and when I finally got my first “real” job and paycheck my priority for how it was spent was rent, car, and buy a horse. 

Not being part of the local horse community and just dipping my toe in I had no idea where I could ride!  Outside of riding in a ring and being a trail guide in the Adirondack Mountains, I had no idea where to start.  So, I slowly collected information about all the public places to ride around me..  The list kept growing and I eventually shared this information via a website I called “Rochester Trail Riders” which then morphed into an ever-growing Facebook community. After answering the same questions about trails over, and over I figured a podcast may be a good idea. 

I hope this podcast is informative entertainment, for those in our community, or those looking to move here.  Thank you for listening and we’ll see you on the trails!