Paddle and Hike at Finger Lakes Museum, Branchport - Sunday Jul 13, 2025 @ 4:00 pm EDT

Please join us for kayaking or canoeing on Sugar Creek and Keuka Lake or a hike through the marsh preserve to the lake. Our starting point will be the Finger Lakes Museum creekside site, accessible from Guyanoga Road or from Route 54, both close to the flashing light at the center of Branchport. Construction is still underway at the Finger Lakes Museum, but the grounds are open to enjoy the Sugar Creek boat launch and picnic area, both of which we will use.

Boaters should arrive by 3:30-3:45 to unload your boat and launch from the floating dock. Hikers, who will follow the wetlands along the river, should arrive by 3:45 for a 4 PM start. Parking is in the field adjacent to the FLM Creekside Center and rest room.

After launching, kayakers will head upstream in Sugar Creek through a woodland waterway. Based on time and conditions we then will turn around and head back past the dock to the lake. Once on the lake we will spread out, with some heading west toward the adjacent marshland owned by the Isaak Walton League. Cattails, water lilies and waterfowl are abundant in the marsh waterways, with the marinas of Branchport beyond. In the other direction, at the northeast corner of the west branch is Keuka Lake State Park. Boaters will return to the start by about 6 PM.

Hikers will head to Keuka Lake along the museum paths, stopping at the Museum’s lakefront pavilion. After enjoying the lake views, we will return to the museum and explore its grounds with interpretive markers about the Finger Lakes and extensive native plantings.

Social: Bring your own beverage and a dish to pass for our Social on the porch of the Museum’s Creekside Center. Or contribute $5 to the social fund and snack from the dishes available. Tables, chairs and rest rooms are provided by FLM.

Directions:

From Springwater and Wayland – Take Route 15 south and then Route 21 north to Naples. Coming into Naples, go right on Route 53 toward Prattsburgh. In 1.2 miles make a left on Italy Valley Road. You will remain on Italy Valley Road for about 8.7 miles, although the county road number changes from 21 to 18 to 34 en route. At the end of Italy Valley Road, go left for .3 miles on Italy Hill Road (CR 35), then follow Itlaly Hill Road as it curves to the right and becomes CR32. In another 4.7 miles you will be at the flashing light in the center of Branchport. Go straight on Route 54A toward Penn Yan for .2 miles, and turn left into the Finger Lakes Museum across from the Library, and before the Fire Station. Look for the driveway toward the new barn on your right.

From Canandaigua and 5&20: Take East Lake Road south to County Road 1, or Route 247 from Reed’s Corners into Rushville. Continue South through Rushville toward Penn Yan. Route 247 will become Route 364 shortly before Potter. Continue for 4.5 miles past Potter and make a right on Guyanoga Road (CR 29). Go another 6.5 miles to Branchport. Turn left into the Finger Lakes Museum at 3369 Guyanoga Road, or if you miss it, go left at the flashing light and then left into the FLM drive. If you come in from Guyanoga Road, go to the right around the building and parking lot, and follow the signs to the Creekside Center (a new barn). Park on the grass near the boat rack. If you take the side entrance in from Route 54A heading east toward Penn Yan, turn in to the left, across from the library, and then right into the Creekside Center.

Also of Interest

Posted on Jan 1, 13 by Gene

Winter Fungi

Previously, we discussed animals we can find in winter. Now, lets see what kind of fungi we can find on the winter hikes coming up. The nice, fleshy, and sometimes edible, mushrooms of summer are gone. We probably won’t find any we can put on our dinner table, unless you feel you don’t have enough fiber in your diet.

When encountering a large fungus, look at the bottom side. You’ll find that most summer mushrooms have gills, while most of the woody fungi we’ll find now, have teeth or pores. It is here where the single celled spores are created which, when mature, are expelled, carried by the wind and, those that land in a suitable spot, germinate to create a new fungus. Although the woody fungi are created in the summer, they persist through the winter. Many of them can be found on dead logs, which are the fungus’s food scource. The mycelium, located throughout the inside of the log, decay the log and eventually remove it from the landscape. In nature, no organic food scource gats wasted. We found many of these woody fungi on last Sunday’s hike, mostly on dead logs. Doug Bassett, chief naturalist at Letchworth State Park, is considered a top expert on polypore fungi, and has a great collection of them which he’ll be glad to show you.

But, also look for the unexpected in winter. On last Sunday’s, hike, we found a patch of colorful scarlet cup fungi, Sarcoscypha Coccinea. This is one of the first fungi to appear in the early spring but, can also germinate in the winter, if it’s warm, like its been.

From our Archives

Posted on Jan 14, 13 by Mark

Honeoye Inlet

On a very warm January day, 20 hikers from Springwater Trails met to explore the Honeoye Inlet area.

The Springwater Trails Hiking Group

Part of the group stayed in the lowlands, exploring the high waters flowing through this Class 1 wetland that helps to protect the waters of Honeoye Lake.

We all noticed how high the water was. Sixty five degree weather two weeks after 18 inches of snow will do that. When the water rushed through a culvert, whirlpools were formed, all rotating in the same direction. If you investigate, you will learn that in the northern hemisphere, the spinning earth causes whirlpools and hurricanes to spin in the counter-clockwise direction. But look at the movie again. Aren’t the whirlpools going clockwise? Clearly there are many more forces at work in addition to the spin of the earth.

The rest of the group headed up Blueberry Hill to the east of the inlet. With the warm weather, the streams and the parts of the road were filled with water. We also enjoyed looking through the trees at the ridge across the valley, from Hunt Hollow, all of the way to Harriet Hollister.