Oswego County Recreation Trail

By Spider Rybaak

Oswego County Recreation Trail Head Sign

Central New York played a key role in the economic development of our nation. Today, the original routes that carried the Industrial Revolution to every corner of the country have been covered over by pavement, submerged under the Empire State’s canal system, or left to nature. Fortunately, the builders of this massive ancient infrastructure did their jobs well--so well, in fact, it’s gonna take natural succession a long time to hide the evidence in the portions that were simply abandoned.

And while that might goad the sensibilities of purist environmentalists who feel smug sitting around thinking and talking a lot, it’s a God-send for average folks looking for cheap ways to recreate and exercise in the open air. You see, nowadays these forgotten routes etch the state in a web of paths lined in natural splendor, offering folks scenic avenues through the historical record.

Take the Oswego County Recreation Trail, for instance.  Running the bed of the New York Ontario & Western Railroad (abandoned in 1957), it’s the easiest, most convenient path you can take through our past. Stretching for roughly 26 miles, from Maple Avenue in Fulton to a little east of North Street in Cleveland, its gentle grade is ideal for hiking, biking and snowmobiling.

The OCRT is actually two trails: the western arm reaches from Fulton to Central Square, where it’s blocked by Interstate 81 (the highway was built after the railroad was abandoned, and no one thought of tunneling the trail under it); the eastern stem picks up on the other side of the interstate, about 1000 feet west of CR 37, and runs all the way to the county line in Cleveland, beyond which it becomes rutted and beat as it continues for a short distance into Oneida County.

In Oswego County, the well-maintained path slices through a patchwork of developed and natural areas. And while the scenery along its entire length is worth the trip, the eastern section is longest and offers the most diverse habitats.

Spawned on its west end at a dented guardrail preventing vehicles from going over the edge of the demolished railroad bridge over Little Big Bay Creek, the east branch cuts through agricultural fields and pastures, skirts woods and small parks and crosses creeks and brooks, offering a menu of splendid scenery, including golf courses, Toad Harbor Swamp, the dam on Scriba Creek, (just upstream of the Oneida Lake Fish Hatchery), thick, dark forests, scenic back-country beaver meadows, even a backyard pond in Cleveland that sports its own bridge over a feeder brook, and a cannon protecting it.

Access is easy. From CR 37 to the edge of Constantia, roads heading south off NY 49 cross the OCRT; and there’s parking at the shoulder of Toad Harbor Road. On the east side of the village, the trail crosses NY 49 and, from here to its end, is accessible by all roads heading north from the highway.

In Constantia, shoulder parking for about 10 cars is off Hatchery Road, a few hundred feet north of the NY 49 intersection. East of the hamlet, parking is allowed on the shoulder of some cross-roads and North Street.

The trail gets a little tricky in Cleveland. On the east side of its junction with Center Street, the OCRT widens, turning into Sand Street. But a few hundred feet later, on the other side of North Street, it assumes the charm of a trail agaiin.

Snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and horseback riding are also allowed on the trail.  Motor vehicles, other than snowmobiles, trail groomers, Oswego County highway equipment, and authorized emergency vehicles, are prohibited from the trail. ATVs are only allowed on the eastern-most section of the trail between Toad Harbor Road and the Oswego-Oneida county line.

At press time, coils of gray and white rolled over the barren, late autumn landscape lining the OCRT. Soon, hopefully before Christmas, winter will shroud this natural canvas in sparkling snow punctuated with ice, adding frosting to the Holidays.

Merry Christmas.

Osprey nests...

Woods...

The OCRT runs past marshes...

Hayfields...

Over abandoned beaver meadows...

Wooded brooks...

And Creeks.

Old Growth Point

Approaching the Lake

While the exact acreage of the East Coast’s old growth (trees at least 150 years old) isn’t known--indeed, new stands are being discovered all the time--it’s estimated that ancient woods comprise roughly 1% of the forests this side of the Mississippi. New York boasts more than half of that, primarily in the Adirondack and Catskill Mountains and Alleghany State Park.

Closer to home, you’d expect to find some virgin woods in the northeastern quarter of Oswego County, in undeveloped spots like Littlejohn and Happy Valley Wildlife Management Areas or Winona State Forest. However, ranked in the top five of the state’s largest lands, they sprawl over 8,000 acres each, and finding their stands of old growth poses a formidable challenge to today’s average, time-strapped hiker.

The good news is that the southeastern corner of Oswego County is graced with Three Mile Bay/Big Bay WMA, another massive spread that offers some really old trees. Best of all, they’re at the shoulder of McCloud Drive, an unpaved logging trail that leads from Toad Harbor Road to scenic Phillips Point

No tree core samples have been taken, so Mike Putnam, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Wildlife Biologist in charge of the WMA, can’t say for sure whether they’re old enough to qualify as genuine old growth or not. Still, he’s confident the trees range from 100 to 150 years old.

He thinks the trees were never harvested by the land’s original owners.

His boss, DEC Supervising Forester Richard Pancoe, believes the trees are just shy of old age, but have reached their magnificent stature because of “site quality: good ground, deep soil and sufficient moisture.”

Whatever the case may be, McCloud Drive is an avenue through a natural treasure. Beyond the yellow barrier (designed to discourage the wild, late-night parties that used to disturbed Phillips Point’s tranquility) at the entrance to the WMA exists a spot that contemporary life forgot. Stately oaks, rough shag bark hickories and massive maples, their crowns towering 60, even 70 feet in the air, line the road like columns to an open air temple.



Off to the west side of the road, Oneida Lake gently laps the wooded shoreline. On the east, the forest reaches inland as far as the eye can see.



As you near the end of the road, the land around it rapidly narrows, forcing it to turn sharply to the east and make a loop. But the spit continues forward, growing narrower and narrower until finally disappearing into the lake.



The distance from barrier to point is less than half a mile, but the scenery is so mesmerizing it feels like a couple blocks. It’s a great place to escape the arrogance and apathy spawned by the asphalt and plastic of contemporary life and immerse yourself in a stress-free primordial setting of towering giants springing from beds of quivering flowers.

To get there from I-81, get off at the Central Square exit, head east on NY 49 for about 3 miles, turn right on Toad Harbor Road, then left, three miles later onto McCloud Drive and travel a few hundred yards to the barrier.

Old growth shag bark hickory

Phillips Point

Old growth oaks