This Sunday program includes a hands-on science program about water quality, followed by a short but strenuous hike up Grimes Creek. Steve Lewandowski, Springwater Trails member and retired environmental educator, will present the workshop on macroinvertebrates and their relationship to water quality, near the Grimes Glen parking area and bridge. The program will take place in the stream, so be prepared to get wet, at least from the knees down (maybe more!).  There is a single program for Climbers, Tourists and Naturalists. If you want a longer hike, come early, park in the village and walk to Grimes Glen on Vine Street from a distance. 

Macroinvertebrates are the small creatures that live at the bottoms of streams, under the rocks. You can tell a lot about the health of a stream by which macroinvertebrates are present. Steve will show how to capture, examine and identify these small residents of our waterways.  This is a great program for kids and adults alike. If the Sunday timing does not work for you, a similar event will be happening on the day before, Saturday the 26^th, at 10 AM, presented by the Canandaigua Lake Watershed Association and the Finger Lakes Land Trust.

After the program we will hike up Grimes Glen, about a half-mile stretch of bubbling cascades with 200 foot hemlock-lined shale bluffs and two sixty-foot waterfalls along the way. There is a creek-side trail along about half of the distance, beyond which hikers will be walking in the creek. Substantial water shoes and hiking poles will help for stability. Grimes Glen is Ontario County’s newest park, established in 2008 after a community-based fund- raising effort.  See the Ontario County website for more on the park and its rich history, including the discovery of a fossilized Devonian tree excavated from the glen in 1887 and displayed at the New York State Museum.

Grimes Glen Park has a rest room building and a small parking area at the north end of Vine Street, Naples. It is a popular park on weekends and hot days. If the parking area is full, we can car pool to a Mill Street parking area, about a half-mile away, or park on the street.

Following the hike our social will be at Middletown Tavern, 183 S. Main Street, Naples. Follow Vine Street back to Main Street and turn right. Middletown Tavern is on the right, just before you come to Joseph’s Wayside Market and Dollar General.

Directions to Grimes Glen:

From Springwater/Wayland – Take Route 15 south to Wayland, and follow NY21 east to North Cohocton and then north to Naples. A few blocks past Joseph’s Wayside Market, make a left at the Bristol Valley Theater onto Vine Street. Take Vine Street all the way to the end, and park in the Grimes Glen parking lot.

From Rochester and points north – Take I390 south to Exit 3, Wayland, and then follow Route 21 north and east to Naples. A few blocks past Joseph’s Wayside Market, make a left at the Bristol Valley Theater onto Vine Street. Take Vine Street all the way to the end, and park in the Grimes Glen parking lot.