CNYHikes

As much as I enjoy visiting the county preserves and parks in and around the Syracuse metro area, where I love to hike more is the rugged back country found across this region of the state.  It's in these places where I found real solitude, trekking through deeper wilderness.  About a 40 minute drive south (sort of southwest) of Syracuse lies Kennedy State Forest and all its hills of varying elevation.  The woods here are vast and incredibly beautiful to explore and observe pretty much any time of year; I myself usually make a trip to Kennedy State Forest a few times a year to hike either the Swedish Loop or other loop options intertwining these green valleys and hillsides.   It turns out this state forest is only one among hundreds owned by the NYS DEC throughout the whole state, many of which also allow hunting during season.  Recently I've been having the itch to come back here and document its beauty and walk the entire 5 miles of what is named the Swedish Loop.  Other t

     One of the more popular places to hike in the Syracuse area of upstate NY is Green Lakes State Park.  Most people who come here are drawn to the park's two natural lakes: Green Lake and Round Lake, both of which are considered meromictic lakes which means the layers of water do not mix as they typically would, creating striking emerald-like color on their surfaces.  As far I know, meromictic lakes are pretty rare so having one here in New York is fortunate.       I decided to visit Green Lakes Park back in February on one of those rare winter days where the sun was out and the temps were above freezing and up in the 40s, ideal for cold weather hiking.  I'm honestly not much into being outside in the woods on on those arctic cold days; it's not that enjoyable for me.  On this outing, I picked a part of the park to explore that I've always seen on the trail map but never actually got to: Indian Ovens - a series of rock outcroppings found in the southern fringes of t