Revolutionary Trail
Revolutionary Trail is a State Scenic Byway in New York. Within New York it covers roughly 140 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Revolutionary Trail with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Revolutionary Byway runs 158 miles from Albany to Port Ontario, New York, through the Mohawk Valley, the only water-level route through the Appalachian mountain chain. For centuries this made the valley a strategic gateway to the west, first controlled by the Mohawk and Oneida nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, whose homeland this remains. During the Revolutionary War, the valley saw fighting at both ends: the successful Patriot defense of Fort Stanwix, the bloody ambush at Oriskany, one of the war's deadliest single battles, and, further east, British General Burgoyne's surrender at the Battles of Saratoga, a turning point that helped bring France into the war on the American side. Fort Stanwix National Monument and Saratoga National Historical Park both sit along the route today, alongside scenic valleys and woodland stretches connecting them. Much of the byway runs near the New York State Canalway Trail System, giving cyclists a car-free alternative alongside the historic corridor. Few New York byways pack in as many decisive Revolutionary War sites over a single continuous drive.
- Albany to Port Ontario
- 158 miles
- Mohawk Valley
- Fort Stanwix National Monument
- Battle of Oriskany
- Saratoga National Historical Park (Burgoyne's surrender)
Plan a drive on Revolutionary Trail →
What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.