HIKE DESCRIPTION

UPDATE– SHORT & LONG HIKE OPTION 

Please come equipped with snowshoes and hiking poles!  

Today’s hike will begin where the Interloken Trail crosses Searsburg Rd. It is the highest point on Searsburg Rd. at 1734’ elevation. We will combine two hikes of 2.1 and 3.6 miles, one north from the parking lot to Teeter Pond, a flat, easy hike with many boardwalks; then back to the parking area. If you only want to do that short, first part of the hike, let the hike leader know you are leaving. We’ll then go south from the parking lot on the Interloken Trail into older woods and more rolling terrain.  This part of the trail is also popular for skiing. There are two tracks; one for snowshoes, the other for x-country skis. Be sure to bring your snowshoes, and please try to use just the snowshoe track. If the ski track has been trodden by snowshoes, we can use it. 

Both sections of trail are popular, and usually well trodden. The first part of the hike is in more exposed terrain, so be sure to be bundled for wind-chill. The second part of the hike is in protected, deep forest, where wind-chill will not be a factor. 

“The Fingerlakes National Forest lies on a ridge–called the Backbone– between Seneca and Cayuga Lakes. New York State’s only national forest, this 16,212 acres of multi-use land is reminiscent of western national forests with a great deal of open land and free-ranging cattle. The forest has over 30 miles of interconnecting trails that traverse gorges, ravines, pastures and woodland.” (NYS D.E.C.). There is an abundance of wildlife in this area, difficult to detect in mid-winter.