This Brighton park is a winner
Corbett's Glen Nature Preserve
OK, I'm going to say this right from the start. This is a beautiful park. If you're scanning my blog and picking and choosing which of these parks you want to explore for yourself, put this one at the top of your list.
First, the facts.
Corbett's Glen is a 52-acre parcel of land in Brighton, near where the town borders Penfield and Pittsford to the east. If you look on a map, you'll see that it's actually two parks -- Corbett's Glen Nature Park and Corbett's Glen Nature Park North, but they are connected by a trail. Access from the north is a parking lot off of Penfield Road, directly opposite Forest Hills Road. From the south, park at the top of Glen Road and walk through the railroad tunnel (cool!) to access the trail.
I chose to park at the northern trailhead off of Penfield Road. I started at the Stone Dust Loop trail and headed south. It soon connected to the Woodchip Trail which will take you all the way down to the south side of the park to the Perimeter Trail, and then back again. There are a few side trails which you can take to shorten the route, but everything combined is only a little more than 2 miles.
The trails themselves are wide and pretty smooth. There was one steep part of the Perimeter Trail which dipped into the glen and back up, but in general this was a very easy hike. Traffic noise was omnipresent(Route 490 is not far away), but less so in the southern end and could easily be ignored amid the trees and birds and skittering animals.
It's the very southern point of this park which is the most beautiful. The first thing you see when you enter the park from Glen Road, or what you are rewarded with after the hike from the north, is a lovely little waterfall. It, however, does not get much lovin'; although there's a deck here and an overlook, this waterfall doesn't seem to have a name. It's a different story, however, for its big sister just a little further down the trail.
Postcard Falls is a destination. They're not tall, but they are enchanting, and there is an overlook where you can pause to reflect on them. Beyond the falls, as you continue along the Perimeter Trail, you'll discover beautiful wetlands and a boardwalk.
I found the park's history pretty interesting as well. We're not talking War-of-1812-type history, though. We're talking about how important this area was for generations of children who came before. A plaque placed along the trail at an area once known by neighborhood youth as "The Fort" explained how before Pokémon and X-Box, these woods were a common gathering place for the town's young people. That simple history, and watching Allen Creek cascade over the falls, brought me back to the days when my friends and I would explore the woods in my hometown Owego, and ride on rafts down the slow-moving Owego Creek.
These days, the Allen Creek/Corbett's Glen Preservation Group continues to watch over the area to assure that its beauty will remain undisturbed for generations to come.
I was able to make it to the far southern reaches of the park and back again within about 40 minutes. I was walking at a pretty good clip, so it will take a little longer if you really take your time to enjoy the scenery and the history.
There are no restrooms or picnic tables here. Just enjoy the walk.