Rochester Trail Challenge 2 – Oatka Creek Park
Introduction
I cautiously opened my eyes to look at my alarm clock 4:20am. UGH I just want to sleep in! The dogs somehow know I am conscious even though I haven’t moved a muscle, they start to stir. Looks like I’m up. Great.
Dogs pottied and fed, I checked to see what the weather was going to be like today. Seriously? Rain, again? But not until late morning. I’m awake, there is a challenge to be done, might as well pick a park and ride!
Setting
My choice today was one I hadn’t been to in years, Oatka Creek Park. Oatka Creek is one of Monroe County’s public parks, it’s 461 acres and is located at 9797 Union St, Scottsville NY, and has a little over 5 miles of trails with minimal doubling up on a section. Directions are probably the easiest you could get. Take 390 south from Rochester (north for me) and get off at the Rush exit. Go West on Rt 251 and just keep going! Pay attention to all stop signs and just keep driving forward through every single one, even when 251 leaves you to the right. Just go Straight. (Never go straight! always go forward (wise words from a gay friend). Where was I. Oh yes. Just keep going forward, the road eventually turns into the park!
Trailer parking is at the top just as you enter on your left, before the yellow gates. It’s of decent size and several smaller trailers can easily spin around and park without trouble. There isn’t too much opportunity to get the trailer to a grassy spot as the lot quickly dips off down to soccer fields. Definitely need to pickup after your pony with a heavily used shared space. The other bonus this parking lot offers, a port-a-pot, something that will come in handy after today’s drive.
The Journey
Who to take? I wandered out into the pasture and my mini Tuna randomly came up to me. Conveniently her cart and harness were already in the trailer, perfect! I’ve always wanted to drive Oatka Creek, Tuna and her cart are small and light enough should I get myself lost or in a pickle it’s easily remedied.
I loaded Tuna up into the trailer, trailering a mini always seems wasteful to me. It’s such a little thing in such a big box. Oh well, unless I build something for the bed of my truck, trailer it is.
I put the truck in drive and crept down my long driveway. 5:18am. By the time I get to the park and am ready to go it’ll be sunrise. What a great way to start the day!
We had the lot to ourselves and I unloaded Tuna and started tacking up, being early has it’s perks! As soon as I thought it, another car pulled in with a dog. The gate to the lower lot wasn’t open yet so he parked and headed on down the road to the trails. We weren’t too far behind but he was out of site by the time we got to the trail head.
It’s been a while since I’ve been here, so I made sure I downloaded the map before I left. As memory served, I knew I had to avoid the Orange and Yellow trails that lead down to the creek. They were too narrow of a foot path for a carriage to fit. But if you’re riding, they are moderately challenging and offer the chance to dip horse hooves into the creek.
There’s a yellow gate to mark the trail head but to the left you’ll find a walk around wide enough for a carriage. Today my goal was to get to a trail I had not been on before. Could be a good idea or not, we’ll find out! As I made my way onto the main trail I looked for my marker, White trail to Red and we’ll make it up from there depending on how things go.
The trails are nicely marked at each intersection with a colored square and an arrow. If you have a map, it makes it very easy to understand where you are and where you want to be.
I think the last time I was at this park was pre-covid, so I was running a lot on memory and praying that trail maintenance had been kept up on since. The trails were freshly mowed, by the look of how many clippings my wheels collected, I’d say they were mowed just the day before. However, it wasn’t long before I realized mowing and down tree removal were the only trail maintenance that was being done. I was. Having to duck and weave overgrowth, stretching hopeful arms into the center of the trail. If I Had to duck driving a miniature horse, I can’t imagine the difficulty riding one would be. Sounds like a good opportunity for a volunteer trail clearing event, and I made a mental note to talk to the parks department about one.
At just 4 years old Tuna was being perfect. She looked around and but marched forward and navigated over roots, rocks and around branches and then we hit the Red Trail. This trail had a figure 8 look on the map and we entered it at the bottom of the 8. The plan was to go right, then figure 8 myself around and back to the white trail covering the entirety of the Red.
Solid plan, until I rounded the corner and there it was. A bridge. A narrow bridge, with railings. Hmmmm. It seemed like a clearing to the left of it. Mud pit, and not the kind you want to be in, the kid that looked like the movie Neverending Story. I will NOT be losing my pony in the mud today. Man, I want to do all of this. The other side of the bridge looked newly mowed, where a mower can get through so too can a carriage was my thought.
Tuna just stood there while I played out a few scenarios in my head. 1 insane one came to the front. The hyperbike she’s pulling only weighs 30 lbs. What if I line drive her over the bridge, and pick the cart up over the railings. Seems like a good idea. I mean, I’m driving a 4 yr old baby green pony, who I’ve never asked to walk over a bridge before, and I’m by myself. What could go wrong? I figured I’d ask 3x, if Tuna said no way, we’d just turn around and go the other direction.
I lined her up straight with the bridge, asked her to walk up to it and step her front 2 feet up on. Without hesitation she complied. Seriously? I then asked her to stand, as I hoisted the cart up to my shoulders. “Tuna, walk on” and her back feet jumped up to match her fronts on the bridge. We casually made our way across, like this was a common occurrence. She gingerly jumped down on the other side, and I asked for a woah as I set the cart down. In total disbelief I did what any sane person would do and dug out my phone for a photo. Good girl Tuna! Best pony award!
I got back into the whips seat and we set off once again. Making our way around the figure 8, I found the correct path back to the white trail, one with an abandoned bridge and wide MOWED path to its side. Mental note, go LEFT not RIGHT on the Red trail next time.
We continued along the white trail which is a mix of trees and meadows, I opted to take a left onto the Blue trail when I came upon the junction. Shortly down this trail, I got more excited than any normal person would have. BIG HUGE Black Raspberries! Not the small black caps either, these were the size to compete with any top grade Wegmans berry. Tuna enjoyed the break and I enjoyed my fresh breakfast. Mmmm.
Towards the end of the blue trail I could see Tuna was losing interest. We over 3km in and the constant change in elevation up and down hills was starting to test her stamina. The Green Trail was a straight shot home and Black trail would bring us back but a little longer route. I pondered the choices as we neared the intersection.
It was then, a very confused deer saw us. We had passed quite a few so far but this one was perplexed. It didn’t know what to make of a tiny horse, carriage and human. Tuna stopped and the stand off began. Who would make the first move? I’ve been charged by a deer before when they are in this state. Tuna sensed that standing still was the best course of action as well. After what felt like lightyears the doe finally broke eye contact and decided to bounce her fluffy white tail off the trail.
We continued on our path, but I caught eye of the doe as we passed. Nope, something is telling me this one is trouble. When we got to the intersection the doe turned to face us. Uh oh. Ummmm. Tuna time to pick up the pace, she chose to go straight (black trail) and I was more focused on the deer behind us who let out a loud blow and kept coming. Tuna, blissfully unaware of the goings on just happily plodded on. I finally had to yell out to the doe and demanded that she stop following us. Tuna took this break in silence as a queue to trot on and I wasn’t about to reprimand that choice. Bambi’s mom finally decided we weren’t a threat and broke off, Phew.
I brought Tuna back down to a walk and we continued on the black trail though the cool woods. With how much rain we’ve had this year I was pleasantly surprised on how great the footing was. I only encountered 2 mud spots the entire trip and both were easily avoided with either a bridge or dry path around it.
Upon return to the trail head I opted to get out and line drive Tuna back up the hill to the trailer. Seemed only fair to her as a cool down for how awesome of a pony she had been.
Our round trip was exactly 5.0km (3.1miles) I could have easily done 5 miles with the trails available, but best to end early and gas in the tank so to speak, especially with a young horse. Lots of elevation change in the trails with a total climb being 288meters (974ft). I was on a leisurely stroll at an average pace of 4.4kmph for the whole trip
Conclusion
Oatka Creek, #2 on my Rochester Trails Challenge. I forgot how much I liked this park. Nicely groomed, variety of trails from meadows to woods, and flat to rolling hills. Riders, the Orange and Yellow trails are more challenging, especially the yellow which is more of a foot path with a very large hill climb. Last time I rode it, a tree had fallen mid-way up the steep hill. It felt like a fox hunt, cantering up the hill with a log jump halfway up. Just be prepared for anything if you choose to ride it.
Parking – 3 out of 4 Hooves
Maps and Signage - 4 Hooves
Trails Difficulty – 2 hooves
Trail Maintenance – 3 Hooves
