I was made aware of this nice hike from the Outside chronicles biking challenge of 2024. This is…read moreone of the bonus heights. About an hour and a half drive from Buffalo, part of it on the Thruway part of it on back roads. The drive was certainly easy. There's a large wild parking lot here, and the trail is well marked and also groomed. I happen to be here on a chillier day in May 2024, and it had recently rained, so the trail was a little slick and parts. There is a fair amount of mud here. Easy parking, this is a lovely trail for a stroll in the woods.

We were looking for a somewhat short, easy hike on a chilly, windy day, and found Indian Fort…read moreNature Preserve online. It's part of the Genesee Valley Conservancy and they're working on some native plant restoration here which is always great to see. This is a small, no-frills park with room for a few cars to park in a gravel lot near the trailhead. The trails are nicely marked with colored blazes on the trees; pairing that with the PDF map downloaded to a phone made navigation easy. We walked the red trail to the river; it was an easy hike with no major areas of rocks or tree roots, making this a good choice for less sure-footed walkers/hkers. The red trail is an out and back ending at the river. There is river access at that endpoint and it is very worthwhile to go down to spend some time on the shore. The views were beautiful. We came back on the yellow trail which included views of two gorges; one on each side of a wide ridge. We also saw the giant oak marked on the map which was truly impressive and saw the falls which were just a trickle in late September. We cut back over to the red trail on a side trail rather than connect via the blue trail as there was a short section on blue that was too tricky for one person in our group. Yellow was very easy and the connection back to red was as well. Wildflowers were still beautiful in early fall. Heads up that there are no facilities here, so plan ahead!

Had a great time at the lake. Very easy to reserve the kayaks. We were running late in the morning,…read moreand it wasn't a problem. They were very accommodating. If you're looking to kayak on a pristine lake when visiting the Finger Lakes, this is the place!

We've used this business 3 times and every time it's been the best friendly personal care. We own…read moreour own kayak and SUP. But whenever we want to have an adventure with family and friends, we suggest coming to Canadice or Hemlock Lakes, because we know we can recommend this rental shop without a second thought to people we love.

Beautiful and peaceful lake. Good for kids. Many fishes and turtles. Easy-access. Great day trip…read moregetaway

We took our 3 grandsons aged 4 years (twins) and 17 months (with their parents) to Hidden Valley…read moreand it was the first time for all of us. It was a dreary day and ended up pouring!!! for the duration of the trolley ride. It did not dampen our spirits even though we got wet!! The boys loved it!! They fed all the animals that came up to the trolley and got to pet the Watusi cows! The guide was awesome and handled that bus like a champ thru the rain and mud! Of course it stopped raining when the ride was over. We then went in and had lunch and it was delicious!! . I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty the food was!! The burgers were delicious and the boys loved the hot dogs and chicken tenders. The fresh cut fries were an also delicious! After lunch we went to the small animal adventure and fed all the animals in there. Our grandsons have goats so they were very comfortable with the little ones jumping on them. The grounds are beautiful and well maintained. I'm sure way more beautiful when not raining. lol We will definitely go back next year so the boys can see all the animals again and hope for good weather!

My BF surprised me with this day trip. He didn't tell me where we were going, just that he had a…read moresurprise for me. We drove about an 1.5 hrs. From Rochester. The scenery was gorgeous, the sun was out, I was ready for it. I never asked where we were going, I just went with it and enjoyed the ride. It looked magnificent from the minute we pulled in. The grounds looked Immaculate, with custom waterfalls around the building, and restaurant below. Lots of places for kids to run around before even going into the park. They have a cute petting zoo. With goats, ponies, OMG! They even have a Giraffe. Perfect for little kids to feed and get close and personal with them. Then I saw what looked like a Forrest. That is when BF revealed to me that, this is a self drive Animal Park. I felt the joy of being a little girl again. I have been wanting to do this for so long, and to find out there is one so close felt like an awesome joy punch! You can also take a bus in, looked like an old school bus with the windows and window frames cut out, so kids and families can hang out and feed the animals. They all looked like they were having an amazing time. Probably the way to go with kids 10 and under. We chose to self drive. Of course there is a waiver that we take full responsibility for any damage to the car. Signed it in a NY minute. I'm so glad we did. It was so much fun X 10. After we checked our car. No damage at all We bought 2 large tubs of food, because neither of us knew what to expect, and we wanted to be ready for anything. Highly recommend doing that, these animals are very smart, and tricky, in a fun way. All animals are free range, some group naturally together. But they can choose to roam anywhere. They all appeared very healthy, happy animals, clear eyes, no lethargy. They looked really well cared for. We fed Buffalos, Zebras, Ostriches, long horn steers, emu's, deer, and much more. Our first animal was a Buffalo with big horns. I rolled my window down, food in hand, outside the window, hand flat, like they tell you to do. That Buffalo didn't care about that little bit of food. He stuck his head right through my window, and into the bucket I was holding in my other hand. I was screaming out of joy, surprise, and a little nervous of the unexpected. Lol We had a moment, when we were wondering how to move forward before he ate my whole bucket. He started retreating from inside our window. I sighed relief that he was exiting, just a wee bit too early. Because on his way out, he suddenly grabbed my bucket with his teeth, and pulled it out of the car. I was astonished It was very exciting. We made a quick pivot and evened out our buckets, and I made note to hold on to that bucket tight, and try to keep it out of site. Haha! Good luck. The animals worked together. A Zebra would stand in the road and block cars from going by, while other animals came to eat, then the Zebra would move enough for us to get by and pay, what we dubbed the Zebra toll. Lol. When we fed an Ostrich, they started pecking at my car door, when I brought my bucket in. I did not even care, and I love my car. But being up close and personal with these animals felt like a spiritual refill. Some let me pet them, I got to look some in the eye, and feel connection. I was not surprised by their intelligence. It felt like an honor to meet them at this level. Although the long horn steers worried me a bit, but they ended up acting like babies. They could have easily flipped my car. But instead they chose to lick my hand. Now don't get me wrong, these animals seemed aggressive at first to me. But they understood the assignment. They were just being who they are. Respect that, and you will have a great time. I saw some cars trying to maneuver by delicately to keep their car from getting damaged. We didn't even try. It's a lot more fun to just not worry about, like I said earlier we had no outside damage to the car. Now the inside we had spilled food all over. Hahaha! And I was NOT mad about it. They also have a restaurant, we didn't go in, but it looked nice and clean. We didn't go inside. Being a couple with no kids. We decided to eat elsewhere. I highly recommend trying this place out. Perfect for kids, couples, lone travelers. It was a completely different experience I have ever had. It worth a drive, perfect for a day trip.

We were looking for a place to walk a bit on a chilly, windy day, and found Island Preserve online…read more It is a small area, primarily made up of mowed paths through the grass behind a subdivision, so no exciting scenery here, but it was a nice easy sunny walk. It does look like some trails go through a small wooded area which I'm assuming is the "Island" in the name. They are working hard to restore native trees here, and pull out invasives so I truly give them credit for that. I wouldn't suggest this as a destination if you're far away, but a nice walk if you're close by. Heads up that the address for the preserve is IN the adjacent subdivision and the brochure for the park says it's OK to park on the street there, but we found a gravel lot with 2 spots near the sign for the preserve just off 39.

Here is a nice playground area nestled inside a much larger park. The playground had swings,…read moreslides, tunnels, bridges, and even some rope-grab areas that I hadn't seen before. On the downside, some of the clearances inside are geared for toddlers and I had to bend over to fit into some of the places that kids could normally go to. Parking nearby was ample, there was a bathroom on premises, and even a nice wooden swing bench. There was a large open area perfect for soccer, basketball courts, and a pavilion next door. In sum, it turned out to be a great place to take our toddler to burn off some energy when we were in town. I should note that the park had lots of pavilions, white picket fence bridges, ponds, and other things to do besides the playground.

Beautiful. Serene. Great picnic areas and pond for fishing…read moreNice hiking and overlooks to the river

An absolutely wonderful experience. This friendly, family run business was the perfect fit for us…read more The rider-horse match up was spot on, the trails were beautiful and varied and the owners were so accommodating, especially for our special needs kid who needed a little more help but ended up singing cowboy songs with his guides. A great feature of our vacation!

We (family of 4) really enjoyed our horseback riding here. The owner was very friendly, but it was…read moreher daughter who lead us out into the relaxing woods. She was incredibly friendly. We were given some tips prior to riding and her instructions were perfect. This was the perfect activity for the family and if we ever visit the area again, we will definitely be back. A+++