Boyce Hill State Forest, Finger Lakes Trail, Franklinville, NY

Visited June 12, 2021

Boyce Hill State Forest, Franklinville, NY (Cattaraugus County)

Google Maps brought me to the parking "area" on Route 242. At 9:00 AM, we were the first vehicle of the day.  However, I had originally set my sights on the parking lot at the other end of the trail and was determined to find it.  Forty-five minutes later, I found myself back at the same trail entrance and sharing parking on the side of a dirt road with four other vehicles.  For the record, the area around this forest is beautiful and I saw a spotted fawn but the roads were a bit rough.

64 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny at 9:45 AM.

No toilets available.

Leashed dogs are welcome on the trails.  Please bring baggies and carry out your trash and any dog poo.

I had on bug spray, long pants, t-shirt, and hat; mosquitos did not bother me.

No poison ivy that I could see.  I grew up nearby and never saw poison ivy until I moved closer to Lake Erie.

No cost to access these trails.  

To walk from the road entrance on Route 242 to the lean to and back is just shy of a four-mile hike and less than two hours. I did not see any trash on this walk except an old shotgun cartridge which I picked up and a fresh dog poo bag on my way out that wasn’t there when I arrived so I assume the other group of hikers I passed planned on picking it up on their way back to their car. This was a popular trail today.  Two campers and their dog were using the lean-to and Wesley and I passed a hiker and his dog, two hikers and their dog, and a group of four hikers and three dogs, and another couple and their sweet, friendly, speckled dog.  

The trail surface was natural. There were muddy spots on the trail, but proper hiking shoes kept the feet dry.  Muddy dog is not a big problem because I have a dog cover for the back seat. And in my experience, a muddy dog is a happy dog. This is a single-file trail. The trail twists and turns with a few inclines and some sections of tree roots.  One section of trail was blanketed in pine needles.  The Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) overlapped this trail. This was a peaceful walk with a few small creek crossings.  I hope to return again to explore more of the trail.  I can not believe I grew up so close to this trail and did not know it existed.

I did not see birds while on the trail but could hear them singing.  As I arrived, I saw a goldfinch and a male cardinal.  There are birch, oak, maple, cherry, pine, and other varieties of trees.  We saw ground pine, mayapple, Jack in the pulpit, ferns, buttercups, paintbrush, and blackberry blossoms. 

This hike is part of the Summer 2021 WNY Hiking Challenge.  For more information:

https://outsidechronicles.com/challenges

For more information about this site and a map of the site:

https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/67601.html 

“Dear old world', she murmured, 'you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.” ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables 

Nearby:

Pepper’s Blueberry Hill Farm

3290 Bear Creek Road, Franklinville, NY 14737

https://agcatt.com/place/peppers-blueberry-hill-farm-166

This site has been an almost-yearly pilgrimage site for me.  I remember sunny days as a child with mom, grandma, aunts, brother, and cousins, picking for hours and enjoying a picnic from what I remember as "Mom’s Magic Cooler".  That Coleman cooler provided some amazing picnics during my childhood.  As an adult, I have visited with my mom, dad, and daughter; the visits are shorter but the blueberries taste just as sweet.