Tryon Park, a Green Sanctuary in the Urban Forest

A fantastic place to go for a great hike in nature can be found in Irondequoit and is literally a forest in the city. The area is not developed, but instead left to its natural roots. There are some actual trails or you can just make your own, that's what this okapi likes to do.

This park has a bunch of bike trails and even a bike bridge, none of these are paved. The trails are ranked "difficult", so you want to make sure you're already a biking bad-ass before you check these out. This nature half pipe (pictured below) has roots sticking up and the angle is definitely steep, so biker beware.

In fact, this is one of only two parks in Monroe County where off road cycling is allowed and that's a temporary situation. It's part of a program to see the effects of off road cycling on the park environments, so if you're a cycling enthusiast keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't hurt the forest.

One of the best parts of this park is that it's raw nature. No one is coming through here maintaining it, so you get a real country feel just minutes from the highway. Also, since the place is hidden pretty well, it's never really crowded.

Since I was the only one around on a weekday afternoon I could let my mastiff, Stella, choose our paths. She loves going for nature walks-especially without a leash! She's awesome at hopping over fallen trees and running down steep embankments, so she is quite the tour guide.

One of my least favorite parts of the park is the graffiti, broken glass, and abandoned trash. This is the flip side of having such a hidden, un-maintained park; there are entire cars abandoned here and a ton of broken glass. Fortunately, this aspect is dwarfed by the sheer size and beauty of this 82 acre wild land.

     

This flower was one of the few splashes of color in the green and brown world of the forest. 

Tryon Park is located on a street by the same name which is a dead end off of Winton Road. *There is no park sign that you can see from Winton Road, just a dead end sign.* It's a little odd to get to as you can see it from 590, but have to go around the block to access it (Browncroft Blvd, Merchants Rd, Winton Rd, and finally Tryon Pk). 

If you live in Monroe County and haven't gone to Tryon Park, shame on you.

Paradise Next Door

This place may be one of the best kept secrets in the (extended) local area. Welcome to the Warsaw Falls! This water lovers delight can be accessed through the south part of Warsaw Park and it is a lovely creek walk for a hot summer day.

The walk to the falls is through the forest and along this creek. It isn't a long walk (20-30 minutes), but it's a fun one! The creek boasts two small swimming holes and a natural rock water slide (currently...nature keeps a-changin'). Please be smart: wear shoes and be careful! If you stop by on a weekday morning or afternoon it is quite peaceful, hell you may even have the whole place to yourself.

If you love nature, there is plenty to see for the Steve Irwin in you! I've seen minnows, cray fish, tiny leaches, spiders, chipmunks, and snakes. I have not, however seen them attack anyone, so don't be ascared. For those of you who are addicted to skipping rocks, this is the perfect place for you. The water has sculpted thousands of rocks to skip perfectly and then deposited the rocks all along your path. This okapi loves rock skipping, but is terrible at it...and even I can get those rocks to skip!

At the end of your walk you will be under the beautiful falls. Until recently there was a swimming hole here as well, but the rocks supporting it slid down during flooding. The bad news is you can't skip rocks here anymore, but the good news is you can prance your okapi butt right up to the falling water without getting soaked!