CNYHikes

         Just outside the village of Marcellus, NY lies a 182-acre green space known as Baltimore Woods.  The protected forest of rolling woodlands and sinewy creeks is owned by the Central New York Land Trust (thanks to them for keeping up some great parcels around the region!) and the local Baltimore Woods Nature Center.  What you will find here is an interesting "snapshot", or preview, if you will, of the type of terrain and forests hikers often encounter in the Finger Lakes/Central NY area.  Now 182 acres may not sound like much at all, but once inside the boundaries of this preserve, you quickly forget its smaller size as you are treated to an excellent six-mile trail network, an active beaver dam not far from one of the parking areas, mature hemlock stands (a must-see in the winter when everything else is bare and these evergreens really stand out!), and hilltop views affording hikers miles of views to the hill/valley south.      Much like Beaver Lake mentioned in a

     Driving through the Camillus/Fairmount area just outside the city of Syracuse, you wouldn't think, at first glance, the area has a place where you can find tucked-away footpaths and wild patches of forest that feel relatively remote.  But there is such a place in the middle of suburbia: the Camillus Unique Area.  You won't find this place listed in many local hiking books, and that's a shame because there's beauty worth pausing for here.  Owned and operated by the New York State DEC and encompassing 350 acres (impressive when you consider its only eight miles west of Syracuse), this area is a patchwork of grassland and hardwood forest.  The uniqueness comes from three features here, in my opinion: the grasslands that were once farms, a stand of mature old growth forest cover that becomes a splendid green in the summer months, and great views to the southeast and north that I will describe in this blog.     I recommend taking the 2.6 mile loop (which has no actu