On Sunday, July 8, nine hikers enjoyed a hike off of Ebert Rd in the Rattlesnake Hill Wildlife Management Area. April provided a map of the area. Please click for a larger image.

The flagged sections are no longer flagged, but you should be able to follow the trails anyway, with the exception of the trail marked 16. You can still walk the open woods if you feel comfortable doing so without a trail.

The group that hiked the north loop reported that there are some trees down that make it difficult to follow the trail in spots. Take care when using this route until the downed trees have been cleared.

You can view the GPS track and April’s hiking journal, which contains other Rattlesnake Hill hikes (and others around NY), for more details. It’s a great place to explore, and not heavily used. 

Notes for the Map

See the numbered locations on the Map.

1. Barnyard to east, homestead artifacts west of trail
2. Follow trail and markers on north loop
3. Signs of homestead, old well (was filled in in 2017)
4. Kiosk – use trail to the right of it
5. Nice walk along bank
6. Flag – opening in trees to next pond
7. Look for small holes, mud – turtle eggs
8. Trail to a parking area on Ebert
9. Mud – hug the west side!
10. Trail splits – note large tree. Keep to the eastern trail (straight)
11. Hint of a trail to the left at a trail marker – stay to the right
12. Small rock cairn where trails rejoin
13. Trail relocated to east at massive muddy section
14. Three Flags at start/end of trail – optional use, muddy section
15. Jnctn of flagged route and pond trail **watch for beaver cut stumps
16. Flagged trail through open woods
17. NE trail end is flagged
18. Grassy area with clump of trees
19. Grassy trail – watch for ruts
20. Stay to east side of grassy trail – homestead artifacts in this area
21. Logged area – starting to recover
22. Flagged route to horse trail – optional. Or stay on grassy trail
23. Homestead plants in woods and field
24. Homestead artifacts
25. Rock cairn on logs
26. Massive mud trail along pond – avoid
27. Trail head (not using for this hike)
28. West Loop – mostly unmarked
29. East Loop – grassy trails unmarked, horse trail has red plastic discs
30. Pond becoming bog, geese families here
31. Vernal pond

On Sunday, April 8,2018, eleven hikers enjoyed a hike on the Genesee Valley Greenway into Letchworth Park. Although we had blowing snow both when we left home and when we returned home after the hike, the hike itself was snow free, with mostly draw trail, and lots of interesting things to obverse along the route.

There were several placards providing the history of the Genesee Valley Canal and Railroad.

Starting at Oakland Road, there were two trails. We took the canal’s old towpath. The railroad bed was a few hundred feet farther up the hill at this point. And the road is right next to the old canal.

After a few locks, the trail rejoined the railroad bed. Here we all are at the top of the ramp from the canal towpath to the rail bed.

Look at the stone work in this lock. Remember, this was built between 1850 and 1862.

Sometimes it’s the natural world that catches the camera.

On Sunday there were sixteen hikers who enjoyed hiking in the West Hollow valley north of Naples, NY. Three naturalists stayed down in the valley hiking toward Gannett Hill for a close up view of the Beaver Pond. The rest of the hikers carpooled to Clement Rd and hiked up Cleveland Hill on the Bristol Hills Branch orange trail.  We had beautiful views from the two lookouts which have been cleared of trees.  Here is a picture of the Climbers looking east across the southern end of Gannett Hill at Hi Tor on the east side of Canandaigua Lake.