Baltimore Woods - Marcellus, NY

   
     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 previous blog, Baltimore Woods is popular with locals: day hikers, snowshoers in winter, runners when it's warm out, and families getting their children out into nature and away from the phone screens.  Its very close proximity to small, sort-of quaint Marcellus as well as it being not terribly far from Syracuse's western suburbs make this is prime spot to get outside into some woods that feel deeper than they are.  The longer hiking loop (approximately 2 miles total length), being more rugged, can offer people some challenge rather than just a casual stroll.  But one should go at their own speed and pleasure here to get the most out of Baltimore Woods.
    When you arrive at the main parking area off of Bishop Hill Road, you will see that it is free to enter all year around.  I came here last in October on a seasonably cool late afternoon/evening with my father who, it turns out, was once an avid hiker, scaling peaks in the Adirondacks, Smoky Mountains down south, and the White Mountains of New Hampshire when he was much younger.  Getting him out back in the woods has been enjoyable for him and this is one of those places where it's ideal to take a "buddy" or someone who might be unfamiliar with the local hiking scene.  So on that day we took the longest loop - connected by the yellow-blazed Valley Trail (.6 miles), the pink-blazed Boundary Trail (1.4 miles), and the green-blazed Field to Forest Trail (.75 miles).  It took us close to an hour-and-a-half to complete the circuit.  
     Entering, we passed an interpretive center for visitors and followed the Valley Trail pitching down a slope to a bridge over a creek under some hemlocks.  Turning left we followed the Boundary Trail its whole journey through mostly hardwoods, a stand of fir trees, and a cluster of white pines at the edge of a large field.  One interesting feature of the preserve is that it contains "boundary zones" between forest and farmland where the flora is mixed.  The second half of the Boundary Trail re-enters woods and briefly follows another stream which flows southeastward.  Tiny waterfalls are found in this stream if there's enough water around.  Terminating at the Field to Forest Trail, we left the Boundary Trail behind and continued onward into another open field where some peculiar plants were seen (pictured below).  After a gentler downhill trek, the last leg of the walk took us along the easternmost stretch of the Boundary Trail that passes by a beaver dam and some wetlands that straddle the edge of the preserve.  What a sight.

     The return to the parking spot is along the uphill yellow-blazed Valley Trail which completes the entire loop.  It must be mentioned there's more to see here.  An orange-blazed Overlook Trail (.7 miles long) meanders up and down rolling terrain, passing an small opening in the trees where you can sit on a bench and look way southward at any time of year.  Taking this path on another visit more recently I saw, far off in the distance, a large house on the horizon which incidentally was one of the first homes built in the area and is now an old farmhouse a few miles east of the village of Skaneateles on NY State Route 20. 
     I highly recommend visiting Baltimore Woods.  It's an important piece of forever-protected land in Onondaga County.  And after you're there, a short five mile trip away is Skaneateles, a gorgeous village in the eastern Finger Lakes that's become a tourist stop in the summer with its shops and restaurants and wealthy homes overlooking crystal-clean Skaneateles Lake.