Dobbins Woods: Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy
Visited June 20, 2022
Park Entrance: I used Google Maps: Dobbins Woods Preserve, 5273-5291 Bly Hill Road, Ashville, NY 14710
70 degrees Fahrenheit, little to no breeze. 1:50- 2:57 PM
Restroom facilities are not available.
There is no admission fee.
No signs forbidding dogs. Please be sure to pick up after your four-legged friends.
The blue trail is well marked. I walked both loops for a 2.2 mile total.
It was 1.23 mi. from parking to entire "left loop" and back to the Dobbins Trail Sign, this took approximately 40 minutes.
It was .1 mi. from parking to the Loop Trail sign.
The trail is natural surface and boardwalk. A few spots were very muddy with my boots sinking in a half inch or so. The trail is mostly single file. The trail had no inclines worth noting. My hike was very quiet except for birdsong. Also, on the far edge of both loops which walk along the property lines lawn mowers were busy on the neighboring properties.
I haven't needed to use one in ages, but these trails do not appear to be stroller friendly when considering the tree roots, mud, and narrow "boardwalks".
I did not see any people on the trail. I did startle a deer though.
I saw one corroded, spent shotgun shell that looks like it had been sitting there since before the property was bought by the conservancy. I threw that in my bag to toss in the trash.
Only a few mosquitos were bothersome probably because I wore a hat and long pants, and I used bug spray. The worst mosquitos were in the swampy section in the "right loop."
Parking: I had the natural-surface parking lot to myself. It would easily fit four cars and possibly five or six cars.
I saw robins, and heard woodpeckers and other songbirds. I saw a red squirrel and heard other squirrels or chipmunks rustling in the leaves. There were mosses, orange hawkweed, skunk cabbage, mayapple, buttercups, and a variety of tree species including shagbark hickory, oaks and maples.
Website to learn more about Dobbins Woods: https://chautauquawatershed.org/2019/02/28/dobbins-woods-preserve/
*Note: The map on All Trails that I looked at did not reflect either of the loops that I walked or that appeared on the map at the trail entrance.
Nearby:
Chautauqua Institute: https://www.chq.org/
If you have never been here, check out their website. This gated community charges a fee for admission but there are a variety of events for every interest and they have free admissions day. I enjoyed a self-guided tour of the gardens with my friend a few years ago. The properties were beautiful.
Ashville General Store: http://www.ashvillegeneral.com/
I usually enjoy their Rueben but today I enjoyed a taco wrap with my friend before I went on my walk. It was about a five-minute drive from Dobbins Woods.
This is the trail map at the trail entrance. I added the blue arrows to show you the direction I travelled.
This is a property of the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy. I included a link to their website above.
View of the road entrance
One side of the parking. Depending on the size of the vehicles and how they park, four to six vehicles could fit in this natural-surface lot.
View of entrance from the parking area
Information board at trail entrance
Name of the trail in Dobbins Woods
Many "boardwalks" throughout the property
Tree roots to trip over
Fern and mayapple
Trail is clearly marked with blue paint markers
Trail comes to a T after .1 mile
Preparing to build more "boardwalks"?
This is a very large tree
Even though we have not had rain in over a week, there were many very muddy sections of trail.
I do not know the name of this tiny plant but it had bright red berries later in the season.
Creek crossing is dry today
Orange hawkweed
The section of trail that had the tallest grass
The muddiest section of the trail
Many deer tracks
There were two types of fern on the property. I did not take a photo of the other.
Poison ivy creeping up a tree at the edge of the trail
The only "litter" I saw and picked up while on the property
Poison ivy growing on the trail. Good example of pale new growth (middle) and also textbook example (bottom).
Old fireplace or outdoor grill?
Other angle of same structure (on the "left loop" of the trail)
Evidence of a squirrel's favorite snacking spot (pile of pine cone leftovers)
More poison ivy
This was near the creek crossing. I caught the pic on my return to the "intersection" of the two loops.
The outer edges of both loops are near the border of the neighboring properties.
I love trees with "legs".
On the "right loop"
Other side of the same "doorway" tree
Heading back to the parking area from the "Trail Head" sign