My last two Victor parks
Ganondagan State Historic Site
OK, it's pretty clear from the headline here that Ganondagan is not a park. But it is an incredible park-like area steeped in history and full of natural beauty. And there are miles of trails to be explored. So Ganondagan made my list because of all that ... and frankly, because I wanted an excuse to explore it more thoroughly.
Ganondagan is an important Native American historic site located south of Victor at Rt. 444 and Boughton Hill Road. It consists of two distinct areas: the 245-acre Boughton Hill portion, which was the location of the largest Seneca village of the 17th century, and the 33-acre Fort Hill portion, which was the location of the village's granary. I suspected that the trails in each area would be different, so I decided to explore a little bit of both.
The Boughton Hill trail system begins near the main office, accessed off of Boughton Road. As you can see from the trail map, you could spend a good amount of time exploring these trails, especially if you head west toward the Fort Hill area. I chose to do the Green Plants and Trail of Peace Loop, which circled about .75 mile out and back, through and along large grassy fields and to the edge of a hill overlooking the valley below.
This was a fascinating hike. It is marked all along the way with interpretive displays teaching about Iroquois culture, and passes by Ganondagon's historically accurate longhouse. But what I found most interesting was the story the displays told about the destruction of the thriving village 300 years ago by the Marquis de Denonville.
The entire village was wiped out in 1687 when the French led an army from Canada to annihilate the Seneca and eliminate them as competitors in the fur trade. (You can still see markers throughout our northeast towns marking his army's route and camping grounds.)
It was interesting to stand at the edge of a field and imagine a thriving village filled with men, women and children. Then it was sobering to think I might also be standing on the spot where those villagers were slaughtered and their homes burned to the ground. The interpretive markers walked you through the whole event.
There are no trail markers for this trail, but they're really unnecessary. Basically you just follow the stomped-down grass paths and watch for the next informational sign. If you have the time, make sure to check out Ganondagan's brand new cultural arts center.
The main trail head (but not the only one, as I came to find out) for Fort Hill is off a parking lot about a mile west on Boughton Hill Road. The main trail here is the Granary Trail, which takes you up a steep hill to a flat field at the very top, where Ganondagan's granary was located. Naturally, the well-stocked "fort" was a target for Denonville's forces, and it too was burned to the ground. More interpretive markers at the granary site illuminated this event as well.
There was some local history up here, too. There were a few benches placed along the edge of the hill, overlooking the valley. One particularly beautiful one was dedicated to the memory of Zachary Frey and RJ Lis, who died in a drowning accident in 2010.
The trails in this section of Ganondagan are wooded and steep. And while there are a few signs, most of the trails are really not well marked, and my black and white trail map wasn't a whole lot of help. But then if I had examined it more closely, it might have been.
When I started to head back down the hill, I wanted to find the eastern branch of the trail I had used to climb the hill. I found the Eagle Trail instead, which I decided was good enough, since it headed in the direction I wanted: downhill. It was also the only trail I had been on so far that had any blazes.
The trail featured a lot of tight switch-backs, making it a much easier descent than I expected, considering the steep trail I had climbed. So I was pretty pleased with myself for having found it,
But then I got to the bottom and I didn't know where I was. Turns out I wasn't walking south back to where my car was on Boughton Hill Road. The Eagle Trail took me straight east to School Road, more than a half mile from my car. I hoofed it back along busy School and Boughton Hill roads.
Dryer Road Park
Dryer Road Park is located on Dryer Road (surprise!), not far from Ganondagan. You can actually walk here on a trail from Ganondagan if you were so inclined. It's very large -- 132 acres.
This park puzzled me for a long time. The trail map I found online looked like a box of worms. Looking at Google Maps to try to make any sense of it all didn't help much either. It was only after driving by the park a few months ago when I was in the area did I get a better idea of what it was all about.
Mostly, that's mountain biking.
Upon close-up inspection, I finally understood the trail map. Each of those arrow-headed worms was a different mountain bike trail. It's a pretty sophisticated system, actually, the trails rated by difficulty, and many of them marked as one-way only.
But I was still intimidated. The trails were for mountain bikers, so I didn't know if ordinary hikers were welcome. Or if they might be taking their lives in their hands. So basically, I decided to wait for a time when the trails were less likely to be populated by bikers. That was today, when it was 40 degrees and rainy.
Turns out, ordinary hikers are indeed welcome on the trails. There's even a sign telling bikers to give way. So, with trail map in hand, I ventured into the woods to see what it was all about.
Once you get into the woods, the trails are exactly as wormy as they look on the map. They parallel each other, go up, go down, go around, go west, then east then switch back south again. But they are exceptionally well marked. Every 20 yards or so is a new sign indicating what trail is what, so you can always tell where you are.
In an attempt to take some control of what I was doing, I pretty much decided just to head to the top of the hill, where the map showed a large field, then work my way around the field before heading back down. There was very little chance of getting lost, so I felt very comfortable skipping from one trail to another as they came close, and I eventually made my way down the hill.
It was a rather nice walk through the woods, and the trails provided a variety of challenges. But definitely, definitely have that map with you. Even on this grey day there was a fresh stash of them in the kiosk at the parking lot, a good indication of how important they are,
There's lots more to this park for mountain bikers to love. In the lower part of the park, adjacent to the very spacious lot, are a "pump track" and mountain biking skills track. These are terrific facilities for mountain bikers of all ages, well maintained and free to riders. Very, very cool.
Dryer Road Park also has a nice playground, sports fields, and what appears to be a box lacrosse rink. There's also a concession stand with year-round bathrooms, a feature that I particularly appreciated after my long hike at Ganondagan.
This is a very impressive park. If I had a mountain bike, I would definitely come back to try out those trails. Even without, I'd like to do some more hiking there, as long as I know I'm not going to have my head taken off by someone on a Schwinn. I only scratched the surface today, There are 15 MILES of trails snaking through those woods, and they're all in great shape.
Well done, Victor,
Here's a great website that breaks down the difficulty and direction of the trails for mountain bikers