Portions of the park's trail are built upon towpaths originally constructed for the Chemung Canal, which was completed in 1830 and closed in 1878. Much of the trail's remainder follows the defunct Chemung Railroad, which was built parallel to the canal in 1850. The land that became the park was donated to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in 1997 by Ed Hoffman, a local resident who had worked toward the creation of the park since the 1970s.[1]