We arrived at Brown Tract Pond Campground early Friday afternoon. We had actually reserved a campsite this time, unsure of availability of walk-in sites. Incredibly, the site we reserved online (the only one left with a pond view) was perhaps one of the best sites in the campground! We had site #24. It's on a hill overlooking Brown Tract Pond (not a clear view, there are pines in the way but not many). Coming from an oppressive 90+ degree/humid Syracuse, the campground was a literal breath of fresh air. The breeze coming off the pond was wonderful and it was at least twenty degrees cooler than in the city.
The sites in our area were a little close together, but some are located farther down the hill and there's still a decent amount of privacy. The ground is really sandy here. While that's great for pounding tent stakes, it sure makes a mess! The sites are nicely wooded and shady and have a nice fire pit with a movable grate. There's a flush toilet restroom directly across the road from where we were. Some of the more remote sites have only an outhouse. The restrooms are fairly clean but there are NO showers in the campground! The shower facilities are about four miles down the road at another campground! Eek! There is also no electricity at the campground, including inside the restrooms. That means...no lights! Bring your flashlights, kids!
There is a lot of wildlife in the area. I befriended a young buck on the road to the campground. He actually let me get within ten feet of him before he started getting nervous, switching his tail and snorting a bit. I thought it best to back off at that point! LOTS of deer in the area, and the deer in town are completely unafraid of people. An army of DUCKS invaded our campsite! Obviously used to people, they took food right from my hand. There must have been twenty of them milling around the campsite at one point, quacking up a storm and begging for food. I actually CAUGHT three of them with my hands! I put one on my lap, much to his disgust. Apparently, ducks do not care to be lap animals!
Our site was on a hill overlooking the pond, but there are a plethora of other sites at this campground. I think there's close to ninety sites here. Some are on the other side of the pond, up in the woods and VERY secluded! You probably won't see the Charge of the Duck Brigade, but I bet there will be more deer and you might even spot a bear or two at these sites! Sites 51 and 67 look really private and we're going to try one of those for next time. There will definitely be a next time at this campground...we LOVE it!
We spent Saturday canoeing down the Moose River. We rented a canoe from Mountainman Outdoor Supply Company (http://www.mountainmanoutdoors.com/) in Old Forge. They have an incredible assortment of canoes and kayaks for rent! They packed our canoe onto a trailer and hauled us up to Rondaxe Road to put into the river. The people there are great for giving information, and especially patient with newbies like us! The driver was wonderful! Turns out he's a math geek just like us and shared some funny stories with us. He carried the canoe down to the river for us and just let us go...awesome!
The canoe trip was wonderful! MUCH more than we expected from it! The Moose River is FULL of twists, turns and trees down in the river that you have to maneuver around and between. It's not a lazy paddle down the river...you really need to pay attention or you'll end up stuck on a log or in the trees along the shore! What was really unexpected was the array of sandy beaches along the river! We stopped four or five times, once for lunch, at one of the tiny beaches. The water is crystal clear and refreshingly cool to swim in! It provided much-needed breaks along the way. If you do this canoe trip, you HAVE to stop for a swim! The trip down the river took us six hours, but we took our time and took a lot of breaks. You could do it in much less time if you were so inclined, but we were not. It's about a twelve-mile trip altogether. Worth every minute! Bring sunscreen, though!
We didn't see any bears at the campground, even though there were supposedly a few mothers with cubs around. Lots of deer, though, and the ducks of course. One single frog showed up as we were breaking camp.
You can buy firewood at the camp office, or from various residents on the road to the campground. If you go to the campground via Uncas Road, I would recommend buying wood from the woman with the baked goods shack. You'll see a sign that says, "Dammit, Slow Down!" Her firewood is only $4 per bundle and it's nice and dry. She's also a really nice person and we had a lovely chat. There were SWARMS, yes, SWARMS of hummingbirds at her house. I've never seen a swarm of hummingbirds before! It was a really amazing sight!
Enjoy your stay at Brown Tract Pond Campground...we sure did! :o)
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Bowman Lake State Park - Oxford, New York
While New York campers are very familiar with parks in the Adirondacks and the Finger Lakes, the state is also home to some hidden treasures. Bowman Lake State Park is one of those treasures. It’s located about halfway between Syracuse and Binghamton but it feels like a whole other world. It’s a beautiful drive just getting here…all lush green hills and sprawling farms. Gorgeous views all the way! Online directions are a little wonky…best to use GPS.
The park itself is very clean and well-maintained. There are 198 campsites on 653 acres (40 are tent sites). Getting a site without a reservation hasn’t been an issue any of the times we’ve been here. There are some sites which are apparently “reservation only” which we found out when we drove in and chose a really prime site (#58). Nope, it’s for reservation only. This was on Friday. Sunday came and there was still nobody in the site. That sucked. But that’s really the only complaint we’ve had about this campground. Sites start at $19 per night. The sites themselves don’t have electricity but the restrooms do. There’s always a water spigot nearby, wherever your site. It’s really best to drive around and look for a site that suits your needs, as some are really exposed and have heavy traffic past them. Some sites get a little swampy after it rains. Our site, 131, had a tiny stream that ran down past the tent. You could hear the sound of the water once it was really quiet at night. It put us to sleep in no time!
The campground is really quiet at night! The sites are far enough apart to afford a lot of privacy and people do respect the “quiet hours” of 10 pm until 8 am. The fire pits are concrete block, raised off the ground and have a grate attached that you can use for grilling. There are also standing charcoal grills at the sites. You can buy firewood at the office. It’s a dollar for four pieces and you choose your own from a stack out front. There’s also a lot of downed wood in the forest if you’re ambitious!
The restrooms are old but VERY clean! The older restrooms look like they have the original wooden stalls and fixtures but they’re in excellent condition. The shower houses are more modern and also very clean. The shower stalls have mosaic tile floors and tiled walls and are immaculate. The showers are the kind you have to keep pushing the button to keep the water going (ugh!) but the water is hot and plentiful.
Wildlife seems to be limited to raccoons, hummingbirds and slugs. There are bushes of little orange flowers that attract the hummingbirds and you can watch them flitting around, collecting nectar. We had a platoon of slugs that invaded the site during the night. At least they’re harmless! Bowman Lake’s brochure warns that there’s a large and active raccoon population in the park but we have yet to spot one. We saw a lot of deer on the roads outside the park, though.
The lake spans about 35 acres and has a wonderful sandy beach. Beach hours are from 11 am to 7 pm and there are lifeguards on duty. There are three swimming areas, each deeper than the one before it. You can rent paddleboats, rowboats and kayaks here. We got a paddle boat and traveled the whole length of the lake, in just about a half hour. Total cost: three dollars! It was a beautiful day, sunny and 85 degrees. Paddling the lake then swimming afterward was just what we needed!
If you like blueberries, you’ll want to make a trip to Stone Hill Blueberry Farm in Afton. It’s about a half hour from Bowman Lake but SO worth the trip! It’s a U-Pick farm, organic, and loaded with many different varieties of berries. We spent about an hour there and came back with nine quarts of the most delicious blueberries you’ll ever taste. I made a ton of jam from the berries I picked last year and it was fabulous! If you don’t have GPS, get directions online before you leave. Otherwise, set your GPS for Afton and follow the signs from there.
http://www.stone-hill-blueberry-farm.com/
The park itself is very clean and well-maintained. There are 198 campsites on 653 acres (40 are tent sites). Getting a site without a reservation hasn’t been an issue any of the times we’ve been here. There are some sites which are apparently “reservation only” which we found out when we drove in and chose a really prime site (#58). Nope, it’s for reservation only. This was on Friday. Sunday came and there was still nobody in the site. That sucked. But that’s really the only complaint we’ve had about this campground. Sites start at $19 per night. The sites themselves don’t have electricity but the restrooms do. There’s always a water spigot nearby, wherever your site. It’s really best to drive around and look for a site that suits your needs, as some are really exposed and have heavy traffic past them. Some sites get a little swampy after it rains. Our site, 131, had a tiny stream that ran down past the tent. You could hear the sound of the water once it was really quiet at night. It put us to sleep in no time!
The campground is really quiet at night! The sites are far enough apart to afford a lot of privacy and people do respect the “quiet hours” of 10 pm until 8 am. The fire pits are concrete block, raised off the ground and have a grate attached that you can use for grilling. There are also standing charcoal grills at the sites. You can buy firewood at the office. It’s a dollar for four pieces and you choose your own from a stack out front. There’s also a lot of downed wood in the forest if you’re ambitious!
The restrooms are old but VERY clean! The older restrooms look like they have the original wooden stalls and fixtures but they’re in excellent condition. The shower houses are more modern and also very clean. The shower stalls have mosaic tile floors and tiled walls and are immaculate. The showers are the kind you have to keep pushing the button to keep the water going (ugh!) but the water is hot and plentiful.
Wildlife seems to be limited to raccoons, hummingbirds and slugs. There are bushes of little orange flowers that attract the hummingbirds and you can watch them flitting around, collecting nectar. We had a platoon of slugs that invaded the site during the night. At least they’re harmless! Bowman Lake’s brochure warns that there’s a large and active raccoon population in the park but we have yet to spot one. We saw a lot of deer on the roads outside the park, though.
The lake spans about 35 acres and has a wonderful sandy beach. Beach hours are from 11 am to 7 pm and there are lifeguards on duty. There are three swimming areas, each deeper than the one before it. You can rent paddleboats, rowboats and kayaks here. We got a paddle boat and traveled the whole length of the lake, in just about a half hour. Total cost: three dollars! It was a beautiful day, sunny and 85 degrees. Paddling the lake then swimming afterward was just what we needed!
If you like blueberries, you’ll want to make a trip to Stone Hill Blueberry Farm in Afton. It’s about a half hour from Bowman Lake but SO worth the trip! It’s a U-Pick farm, organic, and loaded with many different varieties of berries. We spent about an hour there and came back with nine quarts of the most delicious blueberries you’ll ever taste. I made a ton of jam from the berries I picked last year and it was fabulous! If you don’t have GPS, get directions online before you leave. Otherwise, set your GPS for Afton and follow the signs from there.
http://www.stone-hill-blueberry-farm.com/
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