1 minute read
Finger Lakes Land Trust
from Hike & Bike Guide
by yateschamber
Explore over 35 nature preserves created by the Finger Lakes Land Trust and discover the best outdoor adventures. You will find the Botsford Nature Preserve in Yates County. The 26-acre Botsford Nature Preserve protects 2,500 feet of this impressive gorge including a half mile of frontage on Big Gully Creek. The preserve features streamside woodlands and open meadows that are reclaiming an area used as a gravel mine until 2003. A 0.3-mile hiking trail leads visitors through grassland, upland forest, and to the gorge itself from a parking area off Hemlock Road. A hike to Big Gully yields glimpses of scenic waterfalls, towering shale cliffs, and mature hemlock and hardwood trees. The flat beds of shale are interrupted by glacial “erratics”—boulders deposited by the last glacial advance. It’s a fascinating walk that is possible at the height of summer when the creek level is low.
Directions: From Branchport, take Route 29 north/Guyanoga Road for two miles. At the intersection with Hemlock Road, make a left turn to find the parking area on your left.
fllt.org/preserves/botsfordnature-preserve/
The Finger Lakes Land Trust has formally opened its 26-acre Botsford Nature Preserve in Yates County. The preserve is a gift from Jerusalem residents Art and Kay Wilder who donated the land in 2019. The property contains a half mile of frontage on Big Gully Creek—a tributary to Keuka Lake that has carved a three mile long gorge.
