Happy trails…
The Finger Lakes Region of New York State is undeniably gorgeous. One of the most satisfying ways to experience that breathtaking beauty is on foot. The Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) – a nearly 563-mile pathway for foot traffic only – gives leisurely walkers, as well as serious hikers, ample opportunity to view this beauty firsthand.
Plenty of opportunities
- On its march from Allegany State Park in the west to the Catskill Forest Preserve in the east, the main trail traverses Steuben, Schuyler, Tompkins, Cortland and Chenango counties.
- The beautiful Bristol Hills Branch runs through Yates, Ontario and Steuben counties.
- The 12-mile-long Interloken Trail snakes through the Finger Lakes National Forest (the only national forest in the state) in Schuyler County.
- Two shorter loop trails in Schuyler County are the Queen Catharine Marsh Loop Trail (eight miles) and the Montour Falls Historic Loop Trail (six miles).
- The Onondaga Branch heads north from the main trail in Cortland County and continues into Onondaga County.
- The Hammondsport-area hike follows the stunning Mitchellsville Gorge for a peaceful 2.5-mile walk through a beautiful hemlock forest, deep post-glacial gorge and kettle hole, abandoned rail bed and burbling creek to a producing vineyard at the end.
- In the Watkins Glen-area, experience the delights of a 4.5-mile hike that meanders through wonderful woods and streams and passes a charming 19th century cemetery. Hiking over the top of a dramatic waterfall at Ebenezer’s Crossing completes the romp.
- The Ithaca trail takes the hiker two to four miles through the dramatic old growth forest of the Stevenson Preserve north of Treman State Park, where one can imagine what the area must have looked like before European settlement.
The big picture
If you’re really hooked by the experience, you might set a long term goal to become an End-to-Ender, joining the exclusive group of just over 200 people who have hiked the entire trail, some as backpack-toting through-hikers, some as weekend warriors, but most through day trips stretched over the course of several years. And the FLT connects to other long distance trails!
Over 400 miles of the FLT are also part of the much longer North Country Scenic Trail which, when completed, will extend 4,600 miles from Crown Point, N.Y. through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota. In western New York, the 130-mile-long Conservation Trail connects to the Bruce Trail, which follows the Niagara Escarpment through Canada. In the Catskills, the FLT connects with the Long Path and then the Appalachian Trail to Maine or Georgia. What an opportunity – and it can all start here in the Finger Lakes.
For maps, guidebooks, membership, gear or e-group information, visit www.fingerlakestrail.org.