NOTE: Dogs are welcome on this hike.  Bring sure to bring a leash.

HIKE DESCRIPTION

We begin this hike on Shindagin Hollow Rd at the northern edge of the State Forest.  Our route will be along a series of mountain-bike/hiking trails that follow Shindagin Creek, starting on the high banks and eventually reaching the FLT bridge at creek level.  Distance is 2.8 miles.

Map & App: A “georeferenced” PDF (=GeoPDF) trail map is available from the DEC here.  When downloaded onto your smartphone, you can locate yourself on the map using the app Avenza.  The DEC provides full instructions here.

History and Ecology: The name Shindagin means “Rapid Waters” in the language of the Cayuga people, referring to the fast-flowing creek that travels through the narrow valley.  The Cayuga Nation, part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, have lived on these lands for thousands of years.  Following the brutal Sullivan Expedition during the Revolutionary War that drove the Cayugas from this area, the land that now forms Shindagin Hollow State Forest was sold to colonizers who cleared the forest to plant crops and raise farm animals.  Due to the easily eroded, thin soil on the hillsides, these farms were not very productive.  The majority of the land (80%) was acquired by the Federal government during the Great Depression and transferred to NY in 1956.  Though some of the land reforested through natural succession on old fields and pastures, millions of trees were planted, including red pine, eastern white pine, Norway spruce, white spruce and Japanese larch.  (Information from the DEC Rapid Waters Unit Management Plan, 2012, available here.)