CNYHikes

            Highland Forest County Park is one of Onondaga County's forever protected pieces of open space and wilderness that I've become very familiar with over the past decade.  There are several other parks run by the county (see Beaver Lake Nature Center depicted in an older blog of mine), yet the breadth, sheer size, and beauty of Highland Forest make it a jewel, in my view.  Its more tucked-away, semi-remote location in Onondaga's southeasternmost corner make it feel farther away from civilization than it actually is, and yet man-made structures (like the handsome Adirondack-style Skyline Lodge at the park's entrance) only enhance its qualities.  There are miles of trails to explore, and many have been created for hikers, cross-country skiers, and horseback riders (surprisingly, nothing for mountain bikes, as far as I know).  The loop I'm describing in this blog is admittedly one of the shorter ones; the longest along the ent...

      Early in the summer of 2019, I set out to hike a segment of the Finger Lakes Trail  through Taylor Valley State Forest of northern/central Cortland County.  That hike through mainly deep woods brought me to the edges of the adjoining Cuyler Hill State Forest which, as it turns out, is a "link" between Taylor Valley and Mariposa State Forest, a place written about in this very blog several times before.  As I get more familiar with this corner of Central New York and the FLT, I am appreciating its relative remoteness and beauty more each time I pass through.  At this point, I still haven't ventured beyond Pharsalia Woods of Chenango County, so I've been using this time to thoroughly explore these foothills that make up the knobby terrain east of Interstate 81.      This particular hike started where the FLT crosses paved Chenango-Solon Pond Road a few miles past the small rural hamlets of Tully and Truxton.  I was able to find ...