Sunday Hike on the Finger Lakes Trail

Last Sunday, my wife and I decided to take a day hike somewhere we haven't been before. We started to drive to some state land, but the access road to it wasn't being very kind to my little car (next time we'll take her Four wheel drive). So we drove around until we found a park with an access trail that connected to the Finger Lakes Trail system, 950 miles of trails that run through New York's Finger Lake's region. I have wanted to check out the FLT for a couple of years now but just hadn't gotten around to it with all the other great outdoor spaces around here.



Old Home Foundation


We parked the car, hitched up the dog and started our walk. The access trail from the park was pretty wet and muddy but eventually started heading uphill where it dried out and met the Finger Lakes Trail. The first part of the FLT we were on was an old logging road that led to the foundation of a long abandoned homestead. After checking that out for a few minutes we headed down the trail which quickly turned into a single path through the woods.

Part of the Finger Lakes Trail

We followed that for another mile or so, crossing a road and a couple of small streams before turning around and heading back the way we came. We passed the access trail we came in on and followed the FLT as it looped around and headed back to the other side of the park we started in, a total hike of around two hours.

Never having been on the FLT before, I wasn't sure what to expect. Parts of the trail run through towns and populated areas but this section ran through mostly state land and was a beautiful trail. There are plenty of places to get water and I spied quite a few really nice places to camp for a night or two. I'll be checking out other parts of he trail on day hikes throughout the summer and if I have the time, maybe even a two or three day backpacking trip. For more information about The Finger Lakes Trail check out http://www.fltconference.org/ , they are the organization that manages and maintains the trail system. They also offer guide books and maps, I'll be ordering a few from them very shortly.

Thanks for reading and I hope your days outdoors are good ones.

N.E.V.

Tree at the Old Homesite