For hikers who may wish to do a group hike on a weekday, and that is within a reasonable driving distance from the Springwater & surrounds area, some hikes led by Southern Tier Greenway Hiking group (STGH) are posted on the ST website as hike opportunities. Such is the case with this Bully Hill SF hike. This particular hike is in the general area that ST has hiked in the past and has considered for future additional hikes. – – – Here is an opportunity to take up on a hike in Bully Hill SF, for your pleasure, and perhaps to consider as a possible future hike plan for ST.
STGH is made up of hikers who hike the southern section of the Genesee Valley Greenway State Park (GVGSP aka GVG) and many more locations. ST has hiked with some of these hikers during the Friends of Genesee Valley Greenway (FOGVG) annual event held in early November in a past year. Some STGH hikers have joined-in on some ST hikes, and vice-versa.
Hike led by Southern Tier Greenway Hiking group … description as follows:
Monday, August 21st, 2017 at 5:00 PM
This hike will be led by Jim Pomeroy on August 21st at 5:00 PM at Bully Hill State Forest near Almond, NY: loop hike on a segment of the Finger Lakes Trail and return to car via a State Forest Road—you can get a head of stream going down the State Forest Road.
Jim suggests that the simplest way to meet would be to have people take I-86 east, get off at the Almond/Alfred exit #33 (NOT the West Almond exit), turn left and onto Karr Valley Road at the end of the exit ramp, proceed uphill on Karr Valley Road past the overhead viaducts of I-86 and also past the Bishopville Road and then pull off on the right side of Karr Valley Road and wait. Jim will lead a caravan from there to where we will park and start the hike.
Hopefully, there will be water in the creek this year as we walk along the Finger Lakes Trail. Last year, there was no water as it was so dry and the hike was not the same. We will stop at the neatly built stone wall that intersects the Finger Lakes Trail and explore the building foundations that are the remains of the S. Karr farm. He owned the farm in 1869. Last year, we wondered if children played in the yard and what life was like years ago–probably very hard. We also marveled at all the rocks that had to be picked up to farm the land and how nicely S. Karr fence was made as compared to another farmer who just threw all the rocks in a pile.
**** FOR ANY POSSIBLE UPDATES, POSTPONEMENTS/CANCELLATIONS, ETC – PLEASE CHECK THE FOGVG FACEBOOK PAGE.
** It should also be noted, subsequent to the hike, usually within a few days, often photos of the hike are posted on the FOGVG Facebook page.
**Directions delineation: Drivers & navigators should take note for clarity – in this state forest area there are two similarly named roads that should not be confused. Karr Valley Road , and Karr Road, are different roads but they are near one another.
For hikers coming from the Springwater and surrounds area, use these directions with Dansville as point of reference: (Please note these directions are different than those above that STGH hikers will be using, due to the manner in which exit ramps differentially access Karr Valley Rd. Most STGH hikers will travel to the hike from sw of Bully Hill SF, and for most ST hikers travel trajectory is from ne of Bully Hill SF.)
From Dansville, NY: head south on NY Rt 36; to I-86 westbound; to Alfred/Almond exit #33; turn right off the exit ramp onto Karr Valley Rd and proceed eastbound to Bishopville Rd (on the left). On Karr Valley Rd at Bishopville Rd, reverse you direction of travel (turn around 180 degrees) so you are now headed westbound, and then pull off on the right side (north shoulder) of Karr Valley Road and wait. STGH hiker’s cars will be positioned here and waiting, and Jim will lead a caravan from there to where hikers will park and start the hike.
Many of these hyperlinks (links) below have photos, maps, trail routing, etc. All are provided for hiker edification regarding Bully Hill SF.
Two hyperlinks are provided about hikes in Bully Hill State Forest, courtesy of the website ww.cnyhiking.com
A youtube video of a hike in Bully Hill SF – video by Ed of www.cnyhiking.org website. Depicted in the video is some of the natural beauty held on a hike in Bully Hill SF, and … this video is set to music.
