Category: hike reports

Wednesday, January 14

Connecticut Hill, Newfield

Hike report by Nancy Lorr

18 hikers and 2 dogs gathered at the corner of Lloyd Stark Boylan and Connecticut Hill Roads for an exploration of un marked trails on Rowell Hill. a glimpse of the frozen beaver pond was taken before returning to the cars

Saturday, January 17

Ekroos Rd. at the Tompkins/Tioga County Line

Hike report by Jim

Twelve hikers met on Ekroos Rd on the Tioga/ Tompkins County line for an out-and-back road walk led by Nancy H. This is hike # 57-14 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-57 .

Weather conditions were good, with cold temps and light snow flurries at the beginning of the hike. By the end of the hike the snow had stopped, and the sun was shining through the cloud cover.

In the past, Ekroos Rd has tended to be a reliable winter hike location, plowed for the two houses along the way but otherwise a very icy road surface. Because of this everyone was wearing foot traction during the hike; the foot traction proved to be unneeded until the very end of the hike where the road transitions to a seasonally maintained surface. The rest of the route was well plowed, and we could see where multiple blowdown trees across the road had been recently chain sawed to clear the lane of travel.

Much of the outbound leg of the hike is a gradual downhill, with the last section approaching 76 Rd to be quite steep. Along the way the road weaves in and out of Tompkins County, the road bearing three different names along the length of the route.

The road passes over several streams, which were quite active today. The road is also bisected by a snowmobile route, but we saw no snow machines or any vehicular traffic on the road today. We did see one other solitary road walker like ourselves during our hike.

There was one section of trees lining the road that’s had a broad swath of tree clearing since our last hike here. I’m not sure if this was on state forest or private land

The faster hikers on the group made it as far as 76 Rd, which they tapped before turning around and re-tracing their steps.

Hike report by Nancy H.

A dozen hikers met on Ekroos Road, which runs along the line between Tompkins and Tioga counties, for a wintry road walk. Ekroos Road, which runs alongside a gorge, is a delightful three-season hike. In winter, the bare trees allow some beautiful views into the woods and across fields. Part of the road is seasonal, so there’s little to no traffic, and at times the road seems more like a wide trail through the woods.

Light snow was falling as we set out. The road was somewhat icy, so foot traction was needed. This hike goes downhill for an hour (with some leveling off about halfway down), which means the return leg is a long, steep uphill climb. Because it’s an out-and-back that stays on one road, everyone could hike at their own pace. As we were returning to the cars, the sun emerged from behind the clouds that had filled the sky for most of the hike. A few hikers got back to the cars early, so we kept going in that direction until the full two hours were up.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, January 18

Kennedy State Forest, Virgil

Hike report by Jim

Twenty-two hikers met on Daisy Hollow Rd in Cortland County for a lollipop hike on parts of the FLT and the Swedish Loop trail in James Kennedy State Forest led by Casey C. This is hike # 40-4 on our list of hike locations:  https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-40.

There are several FLTC map sheets that cover the area of today’s hike. The map sheet with the most detail is map sheet ” The Swedish Loop Trail”, available in paper or electronic formats at : https://fingerlakestrail.org/…/purchase-individual-maps/ . Sale of the map sheets helps to defray the on-going costs associated with trail maintenance.

Today’s hike took us through an area where we’ve had several recent large blowdowns across the trail, but they’ve all been dealt with by trail maintainer Alex Gonzalez, who does a great job maintaining this section of trail.

While Tompkins County hasn’t seen much snow depth in recent days, Kennedy Forest still has a decent quantity of hard crusty snowpack along the trails we hiked today. This particular hike is always known for the many roots that run across the footpath that can be a hazard to hikers in the winter and rainy summer days. Today we took our time on the outbound leg, carefully picking our way along the trail that runs for much of the hike along and across a nice running stream.

About a mile into the hike, we reached the first intersection with the Swedish Loop trail. We continued on the FLT until we reached the yellow blazed Stockholm Short Cut Trail. This trail cuts back across the stream to the Swedish Loop Trail.

The group took the Swedish Loop Trail back to the FLT. Traditionally this hike always runs around fifteen minutes short, so in an effort to make up that time Casey turned the group around and returned to the FLT along the Swedish Loop and Stockholm Short Cut Trail.

Once back at the first intersection of the FLT and Swedish Loop Trail the group returned to our cars without incident. On the return trip the trail surface was much easier to traverse now that the surface has beaten down. We got back to the cars at our normal hike duration thanks to Casey’s route modifications!

We did encounter one small group of day hikers on the trail but otherwise has the hike to ourselves.

Warm welcome to John, Brenda and Fiona who joined the group for their first hike today!

For those hikers who are tracking their FLT miles for a 2026 FLT50 or FLT100 patch, todays hike included three FLT miles.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, January 7

Lindsay Parsons Preserve, West Danby

Hike report by Mark Sussman

On Wednesday, January 7, thirteen hikers and 2 dogs met at the beautiful Lyndsay-Parsons preserve for a hike with the Ithaca Hikers. The weather cooperated as the drizzle stopped shortly before the hike began.

One dog (and owner) left early due to cold feet. The rest continued on through the fields and woods, admiring the frozen ponds and vistas. We even got to see a freight train pass as we crossed the tracks the second time. We finished in just under 2 hours as we were somewhat slowed down by the slushy snow. 

Saturday, January 10

Upper Buttermilk State Park, Ithaca

Hike report by Nancy Lorr

28 hikers and one dog gathered to hike this morning.  The trails were sill quite icy though possible with foot traction and slowly improving with several days above freezing. We took the Bear Trail to Lake Treman.   Then we took the trail skirting the West side of the “lake/bog/lagoon”.  After visiting the impassible inlet we took a side trip to Yaple road before returning either by the Bear trail or the access road.

View Nancy Lorr and Randy Olson’s photo album.

Winter picnic report by Jim

Hike Leader Nancy L led todays hike and with the help of Randy O planned and prepped the location for our post-hike annual winter picnic at upper Buttermilk Falls State Park. I’ll leave the regular hike report to Nancy, but I’ll make a quick post on the picnic part of the day, as I helped set up and break down the picnic location at the small FLT-type lean-to just inside the upper park entrance

Randy, Roger, Bud and myself set up the tables, got the fires going in two of the park BBQ hibachis as well as a larger firepit. By the time the hikers were coming back from their out-and-back hike to the top of Treman Lake, we had the first course of meat on the grill and the various foods that hikers had left us prior to the hike laid out.

I was a little surprised to see the tree cutting going on in the upper park. See photo. The sawyer work has blocked about half of the normal parking spaces in upper Buttermilk, so out group today had many cars parked along the shoulder of the entrance road

Nancy L estimated that she had 28 hikers and a single dog on the hike. For the picnic we had three distinct waves of hikers at the tables. The first group were the people from the hike. After they had filtered away from the tables we had a second and third wave of hikers arrive with their own food contributions to the meal.

Towards the end of the event Randy estimated that we had an additional thirty hikers show up.

The temps were cool but tolerable. The walls of the creek bed had some sheets of ice still present despite somewhat warmer recent temperatures. Water was flowing quite well in the creek bed. Rain started falling at about 1:30 PM which was the cue for the hikers to pack up and call it a day.

I know that there were a couple of new hikers listed on the Meetup RSVPs. New-to-the-group Ross B was the only new hiker who I met.

One of the new hikers lost a mitten on the hike; that mitten has been located. Someone left a small blue igloo cooler at the lean-to. I have both items in my car, if the owners want to get ahold of me to get their property back

Thanks to all who hiked today and those who joined the group at our picnic!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, January 11

Finger Lakes Trail south and east from the corner of Townline and Layen Rds

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Twenty-seven hikers and two dogs on leashes met at the corner of Layen and Townline Roads for an out-and-back hike south on the FLT. We hadn’t hiked this section of the FLT since a major windstorm in the summer of 2024 knocked down lots of trees along the route. These trees have been cleared, and this gorgeous, satisfying hike is back open. 

Foot traction was useful today because there was ice everywhere, especially on the steep gorge crossing a mile south of the meet-up point and up Bruce Hill Rd. Bruce Hill Rd. was like an ice skating rink.

We even got bright sun for the last hour of our hike. This was the extent of bright sun that day. By noon, snow had come back in.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

View Randolph Suwara’s photo album.

Wednesday, December 31

South Hill Rec Way from Burns Road

Hike report by Jim

Twelve hikers and two dogs met on Burns Rd in the Town of Ithaca for the groups inaugural hike of a portion of the Coddington Valley Rail Trail extension of the South Hill Rec Way: https://www.townofcaroline.org/index/project-south-hill-rec-trail-ext.

The new trail is still a work in progress and only open between Burns and Banks Roads, so for now I’ve included it as part of the South Hill Rec Way hike listing , hike # 2-3.

Once the Coddington Valley Rail Trail is fully open to its junction with the FLT near Ridgeway Rd in the Town of Caroline I’ll give it its own listing on the hikes page.

The new trail only opened this fall and sees much less use than the South Hill Rec Way. Yesterday when I pre-hiked part of the trail between Burns and German Crossroads the trail surface of crusty snow was almost unbroken, and the wind was somewhat brutal in the field crossings. Today while I was waiting for the hikers to arrive, I watched hikers on the South Hill Rec Way approaching Burns RD slipping on the icy and more heavily used trail surface there.

After a quick group photo the hikers set off down the trail, our footsteps a series of loud sharp crunches as hikers broke through the crusty snow layers. We quickly passed the houses immediately off the trail and continue onto the recently re-opened former railbed.

The sun was out and shone brilliantly on the fresh white of the snow. There was no wind as I had encountered the previous day, making this hike much more enjoyable.

Along this section of trail there are some drainage issues with standing water that ultimately will need to be addressed. Today most of that water was frozen and relatively safe to walk on with foot traction.

In addition to our own footprints in the unbroken snow today the group encountered the abundant tracks of many different small wildlife, squirrels, voles, deer. etc on and along the rail trail.

Many of the trees along the rail trail are prominently posted with no trespassing signs. I would advise hikers to stay on the footpath in order to maintain peace with the adjoining property owners.

In addition to the elevated stream crossings and the utility right of ways, there are several traces of what I assume are remnants of the rails former existence sprinkled along the rail trail; bits of concrete and steel, as well as remnants of fencing still standing from past generations of agricultural use of the surrounding land.

The trail passes over several elevated stream crossings such as are found along the South Hill Rec Way. The path crosses over a couple of open fields that serve as utility line right of ways and offer good views across the valley; these remind me of similar rights-of-ways along the trails in Kennedy Forest.

The first road crossing is German Crossroads, and from the number of tracks in the snow it’s obvious that the trail section between Banks and German Crossroads gets much more use than the section between Burns Rd and German Crossroads. There is no good parking along German Crossroads, but we ultimately discovered that there is a nice small parking area on Banks Rd that people seem to be using when hiking this section of rail trail. Given the number of people who park on Burns Rd to use the South Hill Rec Way, it might be better for people wanting to use the Coddington Valley Rail Trail to start their individual hike from the Banks Road parking area.

Beyond Banks Rd the trail soon arrives at a washed-out portion that was conveniently at the turn-around time for the hike.

The group made their way back to the cars, each hiker at their own pace over the now well-trodden pathway.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, January 4

Lick Brook from Townline Road

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Twenty-three hikers and two dogs on leashes met where Townline Rd. crosses Lick Brook for a shiny, icy, adventurous hike to where the FLT goes under Rt. 13 and back. There had been some snowy days, then warm days that created deep slush for footprints, which had frozen hard by our hike. It made for very tilty places to put our feet all the way down the white trail on our outbound leg. Very adventurous hiking. After admiring the frozen waterfall and enjoying some relatively flat terrain to Rt. 13, we went carefully up the blue trail and returned to the cars with 13 minutes to spare before the two-hour mark. 

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, December 24

Cayuga Trail South Loop

Hike report by Nancy Lorr

6 hikers gathered on the morning of Christmas Eve at the Flat Rock Parking Lot for a hike a long Fall Creek. We started by bouncing across the suspension bridge and then headed upstream along the creek. No spikes were needed. We reached Freese Road and crossed the closed road bridge to continue along the creek on south side. After reaching a good creek viewpoint, we turned around for a relaxing hike back.

View Nancy Lorr’s photo album.

Saturday, December 27

Texas Hollow State Forest, Hector

Hike report by Mark Sussman

On Saturday, December 29 nine hikers and one dog met at Texas Hollow State Forest for a hike in the newly fallen snow. There was about 4-6 inches on the ground which made the going slow, but the sights beautiful. The temperature was mild with no wind. 

We started on the beautiful Blue Loop to the Finger Lakes trail, and then a little further. Some hikers went partway up the hill looking for the fabled coyote den, but did not discover any recent activity. The rest of the group headed back on the Finger Lakes Trail. We all reunited at the first pond. We only covered about 3 miles in 2 hours, but stopped frequently to enjoy the ambiance and explore.

Sunday, December 28

Lime Hollow Nature Center, Cortland

Hike report by Jim

Seventeen hikers met in the Lime Hollow Nature Center parking lot on Gracie Road in Cortland County for a hike of the easterly trails of Lime Hollow. This was a variation of hike 37 from our hikes page: hike #37 – ithacahikers.

We have recently split the Lime Hollow hike into two different hikes, east and west of Gracie Rd, to take advantage of some of the Lime Hollow trails we’ve ignored in the past.

My original plan for this hike was to hike several of the blue, white, green and red trails that run off of the Lehigh Valley Trail. However, I found that the fresh powdery snow of the last couple of days was a much more difficult slog for me than I had anticipated. I had expected that given the amount of use the Lime Hollow trails see that the footpath would have a much more compacted walking surface than what we encountered.  As we drew near one of the Marl ponds that border the trail, I decided to simply turn the group around and retrace our route, as that simple rail trail section had taken us nearly an hour in the snow.

Some of the hikers expressed an interest in taking the Maple Run trail to Chicago Bog, and a small subset of the group did make that side trip. The remainder of the group went straight back to their cars.

We did encounter some dog walkers during our hike but for the most part had the trails to ourselves.

Wednesday, December 17

Monkey Run Natural Area, south side of Fall Creek, Varna

Hike report by Jim

Twelve hikers met at the fisherman’s pull-off just east of the Route 13 bridge at Lower Creek Rd for a hike of some of the Monkey Run trails. This is hike # 6-2 on our hikes page: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-6.

The skies were clear at the start of the hike, and temps were higher than they’ve been in recent days. None of the rain we’re told will be arriving soon was apparent as hikers arrived today.

The Cornell University gun hunting season Monkey Run trail closure officially ended today, but from the well-worn condition of the trails we hiked today, that hasn’t been stopping other hikers from using these trails since the recent snowfall. During our hike we saw only a couple of hikers with a dog sharing the trails with us.

Hikers passed under the “new” bridge; I was reminded today by a hiker that the “new” bridge has been in use longer than the couple of years I always think of it as having been. Once on the other side of the bridge we entered the woods and hiked the red-blazed trail, following the bank of Fall Creek. Along this section of trail, the group encountered the first of several large blow down trees we would encounter during the hike. This part of the trail is particularly enjoyable as you walk along the creek on one side of the trail while the opposite side of the trail is remarkable for the many large pine trees you pass through and alongside.

We had one or two uneventful water crossings and by-passed a couple of side trails as we hiked in a westerly direction. Reaching the side trail to the Monkey Run Rd parking area we took that trail, crossed the parking area and continued on the orange blazed trails. Reaching the junction with the yellow blazed trails we took that route to the high bluffs observation area where the yellow and red blazed trails meet.

From there we returned to the red blazed trail and took that trail all the way back to our cars. There were a decent number of small descending hills in this direction of travel, but all of our hikers picked their way carefully up and down the various snow-covered hills without incident. I had intended to include a portion of the Dryden Rail Trail to create a looping route on the return portion of the hike but decided that it was more enjoyable to stay along the creek and in the woods. The rest of the group seemed to agree with this decision.

By the time we reached the Route 13 bridge the sun was out with a brilliance that is uncommon in the usually overcast Ithaca winter seasons…..

Saturday, December 20

Dabes Diversion Loop, Kennedy SF, Cortland County

Hike report by Jim

Fourteen hikers and one dog met at the junction of Hauck Hill and Bleck Roads in Cortland County for a looping hike of the Dabes Diversion Loop, a section of the FLT and the Kuzia Cut Off, led by hike leader Leigh Ann V. This is hike #40-2 on our hikes page: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-40.

Today’s hike entirely took place on FLT Map Sheet ” Virgil Mountain Area Loops”, available for purchase from the Finger Lakes Trail Conference in paper or electronic formats at: https://fingerlakestrail.org/…/purchase-individual-maps/. Sale of the map sheets helps to defray the on-going costs of trail maintenance.

The day was cold but clear after the previous days high winds, rain and snow melt from recent high temps. As this hike in Virgil tends to see more snow than Ithaca, there was still a decent amount of snow along the trail, even if the footpath itself was mostly clear of snow and had periodic patches of ice. The sun was out but partially obscured by clouds so that the remaining snow wasn’t as blinding to hikers as it might have otherwise been.

Part of the planned hike route was to go to the near-by Foxfire Lean-To, but Leigh Ann skipped that location as she believed that the lean-to was occupied by section hikers spending the night there. We only learned later in the hike from members of the FLTC holiday hike that had started its own hiking event on the same trail shortly after our hike that Santa himself was staying at the lean-to waiting for hikers to arrive.

Our group ended up getting back to our cars much earlier than planned.

For those hikers tracking their 2025 FLT miles for an FT 50 or FLT100 patch, today’s hike included 3.2 FLT miles.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, December 21

Lloyd Starks Road Walk, Connecticut Hill, Newfield

Hike report by Jim

Eleven hikers met at the junction of Boylan and Lloyd Starks Rd for what was mostly a road walk hike, with the main group led by Dave B in a looping route from Lloyd Starks Rd to Carter Creek Rd, Cabin Rd and back to the cars on Boylan Rd.

Light snow fell during much of the hike.

Some of us found Lloyd Starks Rd to be so slippery even with foot traction that we opted to duck into the woods and take ski trails and logging roads back over the hill towards the cars.

View Nancy Lorr and Randy Olson’s photo album.