Two weeks ago in this space, we looked at Sperr Park and the Keuka Outlet Trail – two easy-on/easy off hikes where you don’t have to send half the day just getting to the trail. We observed that Sperr Park and the Big Flats Trail made a very easy hike, with Keuka Outlet Trail not much harder.
*Going up a little bit on scale of difficulty… and going up a LOT on spectacularity… are the trails at Mossy Bank Park, overlooking Bath.
*Those who’ve visited Bath have surely noticed the cliffs across the river on the south side of the village. Up at the top is Mossy Bank, a site that had that name at least as far back as 1851, when diarist Hannah Seeley noted that it had become a fad for people in Bath to go up to Mossy Bank to have picnics and to walk around.
*And they’re still doing it, 167 years later! But the hill is steep, so today’s walkers and hikers find getting there an easier trip than the trips that Hannah’s friends had.
*Once you get to the park the simplest walk is a double loop. You can park on the outer loop, near the pavilions and the Ted Markham Nature Center, or you can park down by the Lookout. The dirt road forms a figure eight, with the loop that includes the Lookout encircling forested land, while the other loop encircles lovely green picnic, playground, and rest room space. There’s also fitness equipment you can indulge in, if you’re inclined in that way.
*Doing the double loop twice will take you close to a half-hour, depending on your speed and what you stop to admire along the way. Lady’s slippers bloom in their brief beautiful season. Juncos desert the flats to summer up at Mossy Bank, and butterflies flit mindlessly by. Pileated woodpeckers laugh in the trees, while squirrels and chipmunks crash around so frantically that they probably forget where they’re going, or where they’ve been.
*Mossy Bank visitors sometimes get to see bald eagles. For eight years running they nested successfully down on the flat, but this year they didn’t, despite some indifferent gestures in that direction. It’s going too far to say that they’re commonplace, but they do come along in every season of the year. Ospreys also nested nearby until recently, and still turn up at times.
*There are several trails inside the wooded loop that includes the Lookout. There are also mapped and blazed trails throughout the park. For the most part they’re pretty well beaten underfoot, but there are spots where it’s a bit of a climb up or down.
*On top of that, despite the mapping and blazing some Mossy Bank trails have minds of their own – they’ll disappear right in the midst of the woods. When that happens, just turn around and cheerfully follow the blazed trail back. I’ve been exploring Mossy Bank for twenty years, and even I can get “a mite bewildered” if I get off the trail.
*(Part of the problem is property lines. Hitting a line can bring a trail to an end, but it’s also easy to mistake property blazes for trail blazes.)
*If you’re facing out on the lookout, a trail to the west has a somewhat steep drop (you stay upright, but worry about it) for twenty feet or so, but then a more gentle downward grade that takes you through the woods and over a couple of streams until you reach the property line near an abandoned road. Of course, then you have a long (though gentle) climb back up.
*Unlike Sperr Park, most trails in Mossy Bank are wooded, and it’s isolated enough that (unlike Keuka Outlet) you don’t encounter any active roads. You CAN, however, hear (and in spots see) Interstate 86 far below. Walking into the woods at Mossy Bank, I often feel weights of troubles lifting instantly off my shoulders.
*Of course, no trip to Mossy Bank is complete without enjoying the Lookout. Bath village, Lake Salubria, and the Conhocton River are spread out below you. You can see a good distance toward Hammondsport, Mitchellsville, and Kanona. On a good day, you can see wind turbines in Prattsburgh and Howard. And the Lookout pavilion is a great place to watch the rain progress across the scene, and listen to it drum away on the roof.
WHAT’S NEARBY: Bath, county offices, Steuben County Fairgrounds, the Bath V.A. and National Cemetery. Hammondsport’s not too far, either.
*WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: (a) The best way to get there is to cross the Conhocton River at Cameron Street (becomes County Road 10) from Bath, veer left onto Windfall Road, then go left again onto Mossy Bank Road. (b) There used to be bobolinks on the road in, but I haven’t seen them in years. (c) Markham Nature Center schedules interesting programs from time to time. (d) The Bath Christmas star is installed (in season) onto the Lookout pavilion. (e) During the winter months Mossy Bank is open to walkers, BUT cars are not permitted AND hunting is.