Please join us for a lovely spring hike at the Mt Hope Cemetery and site of the Daffodil Project https://daffodilprojectroc.org/ where over 70,000 bulbs have been planted and are currently in bloom!

We will meet at the Mt. Hope Cemetery NORTH entrance (791 Mt. Hope Avenue Rochester, NY 14620) at 1:45pm (across the street from Robinson Drive.)  Park by the historic crematorium straight ahead.

We will start off our hike by visiting the Susan B Anthony gravesite, then follow the Indian Trail Ave to the Sylvan Waters and the Kettle, where this picture was taken.

At that point, the Climbers will break off for a brisk walk around the southern portion of the cemetery along Elmwood Ave and up Fifth Ave to the Frederick Douglass gravesite and then back through the hills along Ravine Ave to the cars.  Meanwhile the Tourists will stroll will return to the cars via Fifth Ave with a stop at the Frederick Douglass gravesite.

Social: Following the hike, we will meet at a local restaurant for refreshments and a social at Elmwood Inn (1256 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester NY 14620) https://elmwoodinn.net/

Directions:

Mt. Hope Cemetery is about 45 minutes north of Springwater, so carpooling should be considered.

From Springwater: Head north on NY 15A for 19 miles to Lima. Turn left on US-20 for 4.2 miles. Turn right onto I-390 N. At the split with 590, stay left on I-390 and then stay right to exit 16B for NY 15A/E Henrietta Rd. Continue straight past South Ave and turn right onto Mt. Hope Ave. Go up and over the hill for 1.8 miles to the second entrance to the cemetery (north entrance).  There is parking inside the entrance. If no spaces remain, try parking on Robinson Dr.

From Naples: Take CR-36 (West Lake Rd) to Honeoye. Turn left on US-20A. In 5 miles turn right onto NY-15A and follow the Springwater directions.

From Canandaigua: Go North on NY-332 to the Thruway west toward Rochester and Buffalo. At the Exit 45 get on I-490 into Rochester for 13.4 miles. At Exit 17, turn left onto S Goodman St. In one mile, turn right onto Highland Ave. Highland ends at Mt. Hope Ave.  Turn right and the Cemetery entrance will be on the left in 0.3 miles.

It’s springtime and a good time to help clean up our hiking trails before the summer season. This Sunday, Springwater Trails will be hiking the Wheaton Hill Trails and doing some cleanup and maintenance. There are two loops on each side of the road. We will split into four groups, with each group taking one of the loops.  We will hike the loop, clearing any branches on the trail, clipping anything that is interfering with hiking the trail, and we will take notes concerning larger items that need to be done on the trail in the future.

Bring gloves to protect your hands, loppers to cut branches and if you have one, a small saw for branches that are too large for the loppers. It’s still early in the spring, so the grass doesn’t need cutting yet, so we are going to skip the weed whackers this time.

Following our work, we will gather at the Birdhouse Brewery for refreshments.

Directions: Wheaton Hill is the first right turn north of the intersection of Rt 15 and Rt 15A in Springwater (0.9 mile north of the intersection).  The trail head is 0.5 miles up Wheaton Hill just before the road turns straight east and heads up the main hill.  More details are on the directions page.

What to bring:

• Gloves and clippers – hand clippers or long handled loppers for larger branches.
• Small bow saw.
• Plastic grocery bags in case you find any litter.
• Water to keep hydrated.