Railroad Bed Trail, Avon

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When:
August 25, 2019 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
2019-08-25T16:00:00-04:00
2019-08-25T18:00:00-04:00
Where:
South Avon Rd Trailhead

(42.866140, -77.790775)

Join us Sunday for a new venue – an easy stroll with length options from 1.6 to 4 miles on the level and shady Railroad Bed Trail between Avon and Geneseo. The original railroad was built in the 1840’s from Rochester to Nunda as an alternate form of transportation to nearby canals. In 1856 the railroad was purchased by the Genesee Valley Railroad and in 1859 the first train arrived in Geneseo. As gasoline powered vehicles became popular the railroad became unpopular and the last train passed over the line in 1940. Stripped of rails and ties, the land was then sold to adjacent landowners as a trail for recreational use. In 1993, Edward and Jacquelin Harris donated their section of the trail to the Genesee Valley Conservancy to ensure the property would remain a trail for community use.

The GVC Railroad Bed is open daily from sun-up to sun-down for equestrian uses, hiking, running, biking, dog-walking, bird watching, and geocaching. The trail is mostly hard-packed dirt but you may encounter some mud and tall grasses. Please stay on the trail as all other trails you will see running east/west are privately owned. Keep dogs leashed or under voice control and clean up after them.  Don’t forget the usual accessories: bug spray, water, etc. 

The Trail: has three access points. Please park on the side of the road and do not block the trail.

  • Fowlerville Road (Rt 22) – Trailhead sign is approximately 100 ft west of the intersection with Route 39
  • Hogmire Road – Trailhead signs are north and south of the road, approx .5 mile west of the intersection with Route 39
  • South Avon Road* – Trailhead signs are north and south of the road, 1 mile west of the intersection with Route 39

*NOTE: The publicly available portion of the trail ends at a wide grass strip approximately .85 miles south of the South Avon Road crossing. This demarcates an underground pipeline that cuts east/west across the Railroad Bed Trail.

Please do not trespass south of this landmark.

 

EVERYONE WILL MEET AT 3:45 AT THE SOUTH AVON RD TRAILHEAD, where some of us will then carpool approx 3 miles to the Fowlerville Rd trailhead.

  • CLIMBERS will start out going south and hike as far as the underground pipeline (.85 miles), then backtrack to starting point and continue to the Fowlerville Rd trailhead (2.25 miles) for a total of almost 4 miles.
  • TOURISTS will start from the Fowlerville Rd trailhead and hike to the starting point (2.25 miles) or continue past the South Avon Rd crossing to the southern end at the underground pipeline and back to South Avon Rd for a total of almost 4 miles.
  • NATURALISTS can hike south and back (1.7 miles) or north to Hogmire Rd and back (1.6 miles) or as far as comfortable either direction.

Trail brochure and map:    https://www.geneseevalleyconservancy.org/images/uploads/Railroad%20Bed%20Brochure.pdf

 DIRECTIONS:        

FROM AVON: From Route 20, take Rt. 39 south (Wadsworth Ave) appox 3.6 miles. Turn right onto South Avon Rd and drive approx 1 mile to trailhead.

FROM SPRINGWATER: From intersection of Rts 15A and 15, go west up Rt 15 to Livonia, the left onto Rt 20A to Lakeville. Bear to the right onto Rochester Rd and go approx 1.4 miles and turn left onto Triphammer Rd (Rt 52) until it ends (approx 3 miles). Turn right onto Rt 39 for .6 miles, and then left onto South Avon Rd. Trailhead is about 1 mile ahead.

FROM GENESEO: From intersection of Main, Court, North Streets and Rt 39 (Avon-Geneseo Rd), take Rt 39 north approx 5 miles and turn left onto South Avon Rd. Trailhead is about 1 mile ahead.

SOCIAL: 3 LEGGED PIG BBQ        https://www.3leggedpig.com/menu

3415 Rochester Rd, Lakeville NY 14480 Open Sun 11-8:00 (585) 346-0001

DIRECTIONS TO SOCIAL: From starting point, 1 mile back to Rt 39, then turn right for .6 miles. Turn left onto Triphammer Rd for approx 3 miles. Then turn right onto Rt 256 followed by a quick left at the fork onto Rochester Rd for about 1.4 miles into Lakeville. 3 Legged Pig is on the left just before stoplight.

One thought on “Railroad Bed Trail, Avon

  1. Update: Yesterday’s Pre-Hike
    The trail is in decent shape. Although most parts are not mowed, the grass in a few places is no more than a foot tall. Most of it is on a clear bridle path or otherwise open lane. There are uneven stretches where horse hooves have made divots, but overall it’s in good shape. The cooler weather meant that there were no bugs. We did find quite a bit of poison ivy along the trail, so choose your footwear accordingly.

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