Quick Hike Details

This is an out-and-back hike of about 6.5 miles rated moderate, which incorporates a short car shuttle. We will hike on trails in the Roy Park Preserve, Town of Dryden.

The hike begins at the South preserve parking area on Irish Settlement Road in Dryden. Dress in layers appropriate for the weather, wear sturdy boots, and bring water.

Our destination this week is the Roy H. Park Preserve in Dryden, and its two sections of trail. Note that the two sections are not connected, so there will be about 0.9 mile of car shuttle on this hike, but it’s worth the small inconvenience.

From the land trust website: the primary natural feature of the 217 acre Roy H. Park Preserve is Six Mile Creek, its hemlock-studded gorges, waterfalls, cataracts and pools. The creek flows out of a wetland that is intermittently occupied by beavers who have constructed an extensive series of impoundments. Herons have used the wetland as a rookery in the past. Nearby is a large meadow and a beautiful plantation of 1,000 spruces and red pines, supplemented by self-seeding white pines. This section is renowned by local birders for at least ten species of thrushes, warblers and other birds known to breed here. Not far off the trail are a number of vernal pools where wood frogs and spotted salamanders sing their mating ballads and breed in spring.

The first section of trail (from the southern parking area) features an easy route that leads hikers around the perimeter of meadows and woodland and then off on a short spur through to a wonderful small waterfall on Six Mile Creek.  We will return to our cars and drive a short distance to the north parking area where we find the trail that leads us through that part of the preserve, over a long boardwalk, and uphill through a section of Hammond Hill State Forest. We then retrace our steps downhill and back to the cars. 

Park Preserve is one of 45 Land Trust preserves and over 100 properties protected with land conservation easements, a total of over 26,500 acres under protection. Park Preserve is adjacent to: Yellow Barn State Forest, Hammond Hill State Forest, and the Cornell Old 600 Natural Area, making it an important connector in a larger array of some 8,000 acres of protected land.

Directions: If you use gps, set your unit to 831 Irish Settlement Road, Freeeville. To reach the trailhead, take Route 79 east from Ithaca. Just before entering the little hamlet of Slaterville Springs, turn left on Midline Rd. Follow Midline Rd. about 5 miles; it changes name and becomes Irish Settlement Rd. Continue on Irish Settlement Rd. to the south parking area on the right (this is the older, smaller parking area). After hiking in the south section we will drive another 0.9 mile to the north parking area, which is bigger, newer, and has a large kiosk just off the parking area. Turn right into the north parking area. 

If you will have trouble navigating to the trail-head, email the hike leader.