Saturday April 4 - Erie County Forest - Sardinia NY (near Buffalo) - 5 miles
I wanted to go on a hike that would be interesting and hopefully not crowded. Since the area really close to home isn't very hilly and gas is cheap and roads empty, I thought this was a good time to go relatively far away. I took the Thruway all the way from home to NY-400 to minimize the drive time. This piece of land was originally farm land and during the 1920's (depression?) much of it was abandoned and planted with trees. For all non trained eyes it just looks like a forest now.
The trail we followed was the Scarbuck trail. The hike was from the 50 Hikes in Wester New York book we've used a few times now. Much of the trail was also marked as part of the Conservation Trail which is maintained but the Foothills Trail club of which I am a member. The conservation trail goes from the PA to the Canadian border, much of it on easements through private property.
As sometimes happens with printed materials, it seems like the trail network has changed somewhat since our guide was printed. Following the blazes was difficult in a few spots and there were some areas of the trail that were extremely wet and required detouring around. This is probably going to be a common theme for us this Spring. One good thing about the book was that it led us out over 'A Bridge Too Far' to what used to be called the extension trail which is really just a sightseeing loop on a knob of land that doesn't really take you anywhere but was probably the most scenic part of the hike and seemingly the least used based on the lack of mud.
My pictures:
The trailheads had heated restrooms and some other facilities for skiing etc which is unusual for NY. It was a very nice park even if conditions weren't ideal for us that day.
Brian's pictures:
The trail we followed was the Scarbuck trail. The hike was from the 50 Hikes in Wester New York book we've used a few times now. Much of the trail was also marked as part of the Conservation Trail which is maintained but the Foothills Trail club of which I am a member. The conservation trail goes from the PA to the Canadian border, much of it on easements through private property.
As sometimes happens with printed materials, it seems like the trail network has changed somewhat since our guide was printed. Following the blazes was difficult in a few spots and there were some areas of the trail that were extremely wet and required detouring around. This is probably going to be a common theme for us this Spring. One good thing about the book was that it led us out over 'A Bridge Too Far' to what used to be called the extension trail which is really just a sightseeing loop on a knob of land that doesn't really take you anywhere but was probably the most scenic part of the hike and seemingly the least used based on the lack of mud.
My pictures:
The trailheads had heated restrooms and some other facilities for skiing etc which is unusual for NY. It was a very nice park even if conditions weren't ideal for us that day.
Brian's pictures:
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| Weird gateway bridge into trails with a hand patient map of the trails inside. |
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| Mud! |
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| A Bridge Too Far |
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