Brief Hike Details

This is a 5 mile out-and-back hike from the first parking lot on Burnt Hill Road in Finger Lakes National Forest to Tug Hollow Creek, and back.

Dress in layers for the weather, wear sturdy waterproof hiking boots, bring water and insecticide if you use it. Pack a snack; we’ll pause on the Melveney Bridge over Tug Hollow Creek as our halfway point, then return.

If you will have difficulty navigating to the trailhead, contact the hike leader at the address above.

Note this hike requires about a 30 minute drive from Ithaca.

Check this space the day of the hike for any changes or a cancellation.

Detailed Hike Description

Tonight our destination is Finger Lakes National Forest and Tug Hollow Creek. 

The Finger Lakes National Forest is the only National Forest in New York. The Melveney Bridge crosses Tug Hollow Creek. The bridge there is likely the most rigorously engineered and carefully planned trail bridge ever built by Cayuga Trails Club. We’ll briefly stop to admire the bridge builder’s work.

Along the way, we will traverse several very nice wooded sections and get to contemplate the past of this land. The National Forest as we know it today was once a checkerboard of farms owned by a community of families who made their living farming. We cross and then hike parallel to lovely Logan Creek, and traverse several very nice sections of woods. After crossing Logan Road, we cross Tug Hollow Creek on a bridge built, and rebuilt at least four times, by Cayuga Trails Club.

If you are unsure of navigation to the Finger Lakes National Forest, email the hike leader at the addresses above. 

Note this hike requires about a 30 minute drive from Ithaca.

Check this space the day of the hike for any changes or a cancellation.