Durand Eastman Park, Irondequoit
Today was the first time I returned to Irondequoit since I began this 100-parks odyssey back in January, when I visited Helmer Nature Center.
Durand Eastman Park is located at the very north end of the city, along Lakeshore Blvd., overlooking Lake Ontario. Its 977 acres feature 5000 feet of lakefront, eight shelters, a playground, a golf course, and lots of open, grassy areas for relaxing.
The map I had brought with me showed only three trails, each of which encircle its own lake: the Durand Lake Trail (1.2 mi.), the Eastman Trail (1.5 mi.) and the Trott Lake Trail (.5 mi.). I have since found a more complete map, showing more trails, an image of which I have posted here.
I began my hike by parking on Zoo Road and heading south on the Durand Lake Trail. It’s a beautiful and very peaceful hike along the lake, but not for the very young. The trail is often steep and full of large roots. The air was filled with birdsong and fishermen tried their luck along the shore and in rowboats on the lake.
As I continued south on the Trott Lake Trail, the traffic sounds from busy Lakeshore Blvd. eventually ceased and all I could hear were the birds and the skittering of chipmunks. There were a LOT of chipmunks.
The trails here are very well maintained, although challenging at spots. There are a couple of boardwalks where the ground tends to get muddy – and yes, of course there were muddy spots. There always are. You’re definitely going to want a good pair of hiking shoes for this one.
The trails are also very well blazed, with square metal colored blazes tacked into the trees at frequent intervals. This was especially appreciated where there were offshoots and forks in the path. Invariably there was a trail marker within eyesight indicating the correct direction.
With one exception.
There’s a point where the red Trott Lake Trail connects back up with the blue Durand Lake Trail. Apparently in some early iteration, the blue trail went off in a different direction, and some of the old painted trail markers remain, leading off in the wrong direction. I walked back and forth, up hills and over tree trunks for about 15 minutes, in search of the next blaze. (Yes, I did actually say at one point, “Where in the blue blazes ARE you?”) Finally, with help from some other hikers, I realized the old trail markers were erroneous.
When I finally did find the right trail again, it was clear that all of the correct trail markers had been replaced by the colored metal squares. Good advice for future hikers: if you don’t see a metal square, it’s not a current blaze.
I had planned to hike all three of the trails on my map, but I ran out of time, partly because of all the time I spent searching for the right trail. Still, thanks in part to all that back-and-forth, I managed to log about 2.4 miles, in a little more than an hour.
For all you letterboxers and geocachers out there, there are plenty of both in this park, although I did not bother to hut any down. I happen to know for a fact that there are many letterboxes to be found, since I planted many of them myself many years ago, when a local letterboxing organization hosted a gathering at the park.
A bit of interesting history about this park which you might not have heard about. Legend has, it’s haunted.
The story of The White Lady of Durand Eastman can be found all over the Internet, but here’s one version from the website Weird U.S. (http://www.weirdus.com):
“Before this area became Durand-Eastman Park, this was the home of a reclusive woman and her teenaged daughter. The daughter was very beautiful, and was pursued by many young male suitors. Her mother, however, was incredibly protective, and insisted that she ignore the charms of these boys and spend her time at home in their isolated estate. The mother warned her daughter of the danger these young men presented, and told her that they had nothing but unsavory intentions. Her daughter was respectful of her mother’s warnings, but still secretly longed for the company of a young man.
One night, the daughter left their home to take a walk down to the shores of the lake. Her mother waited up all night for her, but the young woman never returned. The mother convinced herself that her daughter had met a young man from the area and must have run off with him. But some people believe that the young woman was far too devoted to her mother to have not returned home that night, and for this reason they say that the girl must have been murdered that evening.
Unable to cope with her daughter’s disappearance, the mother took to wandering the desolate area every night with her two white dogs, looking for her daughter or the young man she had run off with. People would see the grief-stricken old woman out on her solitary walk every night, wearing a white dress. Eventually, after years of her nightly vigils, the old woman died alone and heartbroken.”
Many people believe that the stone wall which can be seen from Lakeshore Blvd. is the remains of the old woman’s residence. According to the website Rochester Subway (www.rochestersubway.com), the wall is actually the remains of a refectory, or community dining room. It was built in 1911 and closed during the Great Depression.
The gallery of photos below show several scenes depicting the beauty of Durand Eastman trails.
