The Lay of the Land FIVE OF THE 11 FINGER LAKES – Canadice, Canandaigua, Hemlock, Honeoye, and Seneca – are in Ontario County. They’re long and thin, carved by receding glaciers 10,000 years ago. With a GPS and a tank of gas, there’s no telling what you’ll discover. The tilth left by the glaciers is IDEAL FOR FARMING – vegetables, fruits (especially grapes), nursery plants, hops, and even cannabis. We also produce dairy products, beef and poultry. You’ll taste the difference when you drink and dine local. The lakes retain heat, PERFECT FOR GRAPE GROWING. They warm the surrounding land, which prevents roots from freezing during cold winters. In the spring, the warmth protects the vines during sudden frosts, and in the fall, it allows grapes to ripen on the vine. ONTARIO PATHWAYS AND VICTOR HIKING TRAILS offer easy access to the great outdoors for all ages and abilities. THE HIGHEST POINT in Ontario County is “The Jump Off” on Gannett Hill in Naples. At 2,256 feet, its elevated lookout offers the best views of the region’s U-shaped valleys and steep hillsides. VICTOR IS ACTUALLY A ROCHESTER SUBURB. Home to many commuters, Ontario County is only about 10 miles southeast of the city of Rochester. FOUR INTERCHANGES ON THE NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY provide easy access to Ontario County. You can easily get here from just about anywhere and vice versa. DRUMLINS – small, low, rounded hills created at the end of the last ice age – make our landscape look like a gently rolling blanket. Hill Cumorah, 2 miles north of thruway exit 43, is a drumlin. Drumlins are aligned in the direction of ice flow with the steep, blunt end facing upstream and the gentle, tapered end facing downstream. In height, they rarely exceed 200 feet. GEOCACHING is an easy, fun, all-age way to engage with the outdoors. Load the app at geocaching.com. ONTARIO COUNTY rates in the top 10 percent of the “Best Places to Farm” in the United States. Half of the Ontario County land area is classified as Prime Farmland (adequate moisture and drainage,adequate soil depth and texture, are not susceptible to erosion or flooding, and sustain high yield production with minimal fertilizer and energy requirements). More than 100,000 additional acres of farmland are highly productive, level to gently rolling, and are of statewide importance. We put the farm in Farm to Table.
6 ONChamber.com
