Boutwell Hill State Forest, Trail 1

Visited June 25, 2022

Parking: I used Google Maps: Boutwell Hill State Forest, Cherry Creek, NY to get in the area on E Road as shown in the first picture below. The parking areas at two points on the trail are on Lewis & Ruttenbur Roads and Boutwell Hill Road. Continuing on the "main" road from E Road and taking a left onto Boutwell Hill Road will take you to the parking area in my first pictures. Do not bother washing your car or driving a low-riding vehicle to this area. Most of the roads around the park are dirt or gravel.

66 degrees when I arrived at 9:30 AM - 80 degrees Fahrenheit at 11:45 AM with little to no breeze

Large porta potty available at the Lewis and Ruttenbur Roads parking area. Clean and stocked with toilet paper.

There is no admission fee.

No signs forbidding dogs. Please be sure to pick up after your four-legged friends. (Be aware that these lots are also used by people who are accessing the horse trails in case you or your dog have trouble interacting with horses.) Wesley enjoyed all of the smells along the edge of the trail.

The trail is well marked despite a few tricky intersections. I included photos below.

I totaled 4.44 miles walking to the pond and back from the Lewis & Ruttenbur parking lot. There were many shady, cool sections of trail but there were a few full-sun sections of trail. Future visitors will benefit from the ripening blackberries; be sure to save a few for the birds and wild creatures. The songbirds provided a beautiful soundtrack for my walk with Wesley.

The trail is natural surface, gravel surface, and wooden raised sections of trail. It was mowed in the grassy sections and in improved condition from when we used to visit this trail for geocaching in 2006-2008. We have had no rain for about a week so there was no mud on the trail except for one small section by the ravine; I suspect there was a spring in that area. Some sections were flat but there were also significant areas of incline and decline which could be tricky and treacherous during times of significant rain. Probably no need for long pants unless you want extra protection from the persistent mosquitos or you have allergies to all of the "nature."

I believe trying to navigate this trail with a stroller would be a miserable experience due to the many bridges and uneven terrain.

I did not see any people on the trail. I did see people unloading their horse at the parking lot.

I did not see any trash.

The mosquitos were determined today and did not care that I had on long pants, a hat, t-shirt, and bug spray. Today was not a day to sit down and enjoy the pond, for me at least.

Parking: Freshly redone gravel lot with horse-related amenities. Room for 50+ vehicles (less if there are horse trailers). An overflow lot is across the road.

I saw robins, and I heard other songbirds. I saw a chipmunk rustling in the leaves. There were mosses, ferns, daisies, mayapple, buttercups, coltsfoot, wild geranium, pink clover, multiflora rose, cat tails, blackberries, and a variety of tree species including shagbark hickory, gorgeous oaks and maples.

Website: https://chqgov.com/parks-and-trails/erlandson-overlook-park

This hike is part of the WNY Hiking Challenge, Summer 2022. To learn more: https://outsidechronicles.com/summer/.

“Nature is always lovely, invincible, glad, whatever is done and suffered by her creatures. All scars she heals, whether in rocks or water or sky or hearts.

-John Muir (Journal, 3/24/1895)