What a fantastic park, lots of great hiking trails along the Oatka Creek with such beautiful views…read more Trails are easily marked. Love how they even spray paint uprooted tripping hazards.. bright pink and white. Loved hiking to the bridge overpass , great view over the creek. So much fun rustling through autumn leaves and fall weather!

I have such conflicted feelings about this review, because part of what makes Oatka Creek Park so…read moreamazing is that it's off the beaten path and not very well known. But a good Yelper doesn't hoard the knowledge, and the physical location of the park is still going to be off the beaten path, so I can be confident in sharing why Oatka Creek Park is a gem. Oatka Creek Park is a little hard to find if you haven't been there before. Luckily, Waze actually recognized the address and got us there in one piece. Basically, you go through an intersection and the park is right there. There was a decent sized parking lot right away, and down the road another, closer to the trail. It's your call which lot is best. The main trail is a loop around the park, the goal to get you down to Oatka Creek itself. And let me say, it's worth the hike. Moving water is the best, for so many reasons. It's not the fastest moving creek, but it's a great one to stop at and take in the sights. I found the trail to be fairly simple, a little uphill and downhill at times, but not the strenuous kind (at least in my eyes). You could even go on horseback if you wanted, and I've seen the horses on the trail. It's a good one for horses, but be advised that with horses comes the not so little presents they leave behind. Watch where you step. Oatka Creek Park is a true gem, so I don't feel too bad about letting the world know about it. Somehow, I feel the serenity and woodland creatures won't go anywhere on a day with more hikers and horses than usual.

What a beautiful area for the family. There is a small park on the lake with cabins and picnic…read moreareas. Then across the street is a parking lot at the top and you can hike above the gorge or below along the creek. Beautiful falls views. Sometimes hard to get to the falls after a lot of rain. Very slippery on walking the water trail. The upper trail has some elevation, but then flattens out with viewing areas and a peek at the falls. Beautiful area.

Beautiful scenery and picturesque lodge camping venue. They have a designated swimming area,…read moreplayground, game room as well. Perfect spot for a wedding this past weekend.

Fun place for a hike with great fall views! While i'm not necessarily an experienced hiker and was…read moreable to do it without too much difficulty, it is important to note that it is very steep, so whether you start at the top or the bottom, at least one way is going to be very taxing. We parked at the lot that our phone took us too, if it is raining or winter you may want to make sure you have 4 wheel drive as it is a steep gravel road some of which was not big enough for 2 cars. If you are a geocacher like me though this is a must visit, the oldest cache in nys and the 6th oldest active in the world. For the first bit the trail was easy to follow but once we got to the cache it was almost impossible to see where it went and seemed too steep for us to be comfortable carrying on but it was worth it for the view and the cache.

What a magical place to visit. All ages can enjoy the many trails seeing wildlife. Fairy land is a…read moretreat for the kids I love it too! Feed chickadees and titmouse from your hand it's amazing. Fun outdoor area kids can climb through the logs and check out Wild Wings and the many birds they have rescued. Highly recommend!

I feel like it's been forever since we've been hiking! Saw the reviews for Mendon Ponds Park, and…read moredecided it was the one. We stumbled a little bit trying to find where the trails started. Initially we were following an online map, but we stopped at the park office to grab a paper copy for easier navigating. The park office is definitely not what I expected - it was a bit neglected, and nobody was there. I was hoping there'd be someone to talk to! Maybe they're just not in on Sundays. So off we went with our paper map! Lots of beautiful buildings - we really enjoyed the cobblestone house. Tree lined paths. Parking lots placed in convenient places. There was a cute little playground by the largest pond, and my daughter really enjoyed the abundance of lily pads. We were already feeling exhausted due to the heat by the time we found a trail entrance, but the trail itself was nice. There were teal colored trail markers nailed to the trees along the way, although the path itself was pretty straightforward until the turnaround. According to the map it should have circled back but there was a sign there for private property, so we hiked back the way we came instead. They had some absolutely gorgeous looking shelters. I'm not sure what the price point is, but it would be a great place for gatherings. Beautiful and peaceful, even if a little bit confusing our first time there. We will definitely be going back again (on a cooler day) to explore some more!

We were looking for a somewhat short, easy hike on a chilly, windy day, and found Indian Fort…read moreNature Preserve online. It's part of the Genesee Valley Conservancy and they're working on some native plant restoration here which is always great to see. This is a small, no-frills park with room for a few cars to park in a gravel lot near the trailhead. The trails are nicely marked with colored blazes on the trees; pairing that with the PDF map downloaded to a phone made navigation easy. We walked the red trail to the river; it was an easy hike with no major areas of rocks or tree roots, making this a good choice for less sure-footed walkers/hkers. The red trail is an out and back ending at the river. There is river access at that endpoint and it is very worthwhile to go down to spend some time on the shore. The views were beautiful. We came back on the yellow trail which included views of two gorges; one on each side of a wide ridge. We also saw the giant oak marked on the map which was truly impressive and saw the falls which were just a trickle in late September. We cut back over to the red trail on a side trail rather than connect via the blue trail as there was a short section on blue that was too tricky for one person in our group. Yellow was very easy and the connection back to red was as well. Wildflowers were still beautiful in early fall. Heads up that there are no facilities here, so plan ahead!

Trails are very rooted grass is long not for anyone who has probs walking nice pond quite hilly…read moreneeds tlc

This was my first time hiking in the Finger Lakes region and I can't wait to explore the other…read moretrails in the area. At the start of the trail, there's a guide map. There are three trails to choose from with varying difficulty levels. The trails are well marked and the trees give plenty of shade for most of it. It wasn't overly crowded which I loved. We crossed paths with about two other groups during the entire time. The trail took us about an hour and a half to complete. Make sure you have adequate footwear because it gets pretty muddy around the streams that you'll have to cross. We ran into sever caterpillars and frogs all over and tried to be mindful of them. We were even able to see some tadpoles in the pond. Apparently there is other wildlife in the area, including black bears but we didn't see any thankfully. You should definitely check this place out if you're into hiking. You won't be disappointed.

One of the very first parks we discovered in the area, and still one of our go to parks for the…read morelake view and the walk! Parking could be better, but even on hot sunny days, we can usually find a free spot. There is a playground, a big gazebo right on the water, covered picnic tables, swinging benches, docks, a small "beach" area, and a gorgeous view all the way up and down the walking path! It's a fabulous place for a picnic! And the FOOD possibilities are endless! You are barely minutes away from fast food, ice cream, and hidden gem restaurants. Highly recommend!

Love the lakefront. Was able to spend all day Monday here while a local young man swam the entire…read morelake in honor of his cousin and benefit my niece who is battling thyroid cancer. Incredible day spent at the very scenic lakefront. Surprised how many people hang out at the lake. But it's absolutely perfect.

I was made aware of this nice hike from the Outside chronicles biking challenge of 2024. This is…read moreone of the bonus heights. About an hour and a half drive from Buffalo, part of it on the Thruway part of it on back roads. The drive was certainly easy. There's a large wild parking lot here, and the trail is well marked and also groomed. I happen to be here on a chillier day in May 2024, and it had recently rained, so the trail was a little slick and parts. There is a fair amount of mud here. Easy parking, this is a lovely trail for a stroll in the woods.