Mountain bikers' heaven

I didn't really know what to expect from Tryon Park and Irondequoit Bay Park West, two Irondequoit parks I would be visiting this day. The online write-ups seemed to indicate that these were pretty undeveloped areas, and just yesterday my son had mentioned that he liked to go mountain biking at Tryon Park. Other than that, though, I was going in with little information.

Even the online trail maps were not much help. I like to compare the towns' maps to Google images of the same area, which also often show marked trails. In the case of Tryon Park, however, the maps barely reconciled. Placed side by side, some of the trails seemed to match -- a bit -- but there was not much obvious duplication. So I was going in kind of blind.

Tryon Park

Tryon Park is one of those parks you've driven by countless times, but probably had no idea it was there. It stretches north and south for 82 acres between Empire and Browncroft boulevards, east of Winton Road and Route 590. Access it from North Winton Road by turning onto Tryon Park and following it almost to the end, where there's a spacious parking lot.

I realized two things almost immediately upon entering Tryon Park. First, it's definitely more a mountain biker's park than a hiker's park. Second, there are a LOT more trails than are shown on any map. If I had had any dreams of actually following a trail map, I threw them right out the window. It seemed like there was a new trail intersection every 50 yards or so. It was kind of like trying to navigate a corn maze; I didn't really know which was I should go. Metal blazes were tacked to trees occasionally, but certainly not enough to keep me on a recognizable route.

I never feared getting lost, however. The park is so close to Rt. 590 that traffic noise is constant. Knowing that the highway runs north to south, I was never in any doubt which direction I was going, and I was comforted by the fact that all I had to do was head back toward the highway sounds to find my way out.

The trails themselves are definitely challenging, filled with roots and large rocks and occasionally very steep and narrow. The kiosk at the parking lot has them rated the highest difficulty for mountain bikers, so you can imagine what it was like to hike them. Nevertheless, I managed to wander around for a little more than a half mile before heading back to the highway. Just before exiting the woods, I stumbled upon a kind of mountain-biker's skate park, a natural depression that certainly sees a lot of action.

The park is beautiful, if not peaceful, offering plenty of natural variety from woods to meadows to wetlands. There are a lot of birds and I even startled a few deer. But watch your footing.

There are two picnic tables near the parking lot, by the way, so it's not COMPLETELY undeveloped.

Irondequoit Bay Park West

The drive alone down to this park is beautiful. You'll want to look at a map to figure out the route, but it takes you through some very pretty bay-side residential neighborhoods, then drops down through a heavily wooded drive, opening up again when you reach gorgeous Irondequoit Bay.

Irondequoit Bay Park West, located off of Norton Street/Bay View Road/Glen Haven Road is only a few miles north of Tryon Park. It covers 147 acres, including 2,000 feet of Irondequoit Bay frontage. Even if you didn't want to go hiking or mountain biking, just hanging out beside the bay would make for a nice afternoon.

Like Tryon Park, Irondequoit Bay Park West is completely undeveloped. There aren't even any picnic tables near the small parking lot. There is a porta-potty, but given that it stunk to holy hell even 25 yards away, there is no way I was going to get any closer. I would have squatted in the woods first.

You'll reach the parking lot before the road actually makes it all the way to the bay. The main trailhead is here, across the road from the lot. Another trailhead is about 100 yards up the road -- you drove by it on the way down -- but there's no parking there.

A sign at the main trailhead indicating that the trails are maintained by the GROC (Genesee Regional Off-Road Cyclists) is your first clue that this is another park frequented by mountain bikers. The graffiti-marked wall, tire marks and warning flags on the trails also made it pretty clear.

The GROC folks have a done a great job on these trails. The one I hiked had a fence, a rock wall, and was well marked. According to the signpost at the trailhead, the trails in here are of varying degree of difficulty. The one I hiked was pretty easy and made for an enjoyable stroll. The trail maps matched up a little bit better than did the ones for Tryon Park, but they were still a bit difficult to follow. So when I found myself turned around and heading back from whence I came, I went with it, still managing to hike about a half mile.

It was a pretty and peaceful hike. I saw a few other dog-walkers across one valley, but no bikers.