the Way of the Turtle

A Short Walk at the Onondaga Lake Park
Saturday, April 5, 2008

After spending the morning and much of the afternoon at a black-belt-rank promotion breakfast and an instructors' staff meeting, I really wanted to get outside before dark. Unfortunately the meeting ended an hour later than it was supposed to, so that limited the options to somewhere close to the Thruway (and not too far from Utica.) After reviewing the options, we decided to stop at Onondaga Lake Park just outside of Syracuse.

The park has paths that extend several miles south from the northern end of Onondaga Lake, along both the east and west shores, as well was some trails north of the Thruway. One of the coolest things about this park is the fact that the road along the eastern show is closed to traffic, making this an excellent place to ride, walk, and run (though the distances lend themselves best to riding.)

We wandered along the lakeshore near the northern parking area for a bit, checking out the geese and gulls. Then we crossed the canal and walked for a while down the western lakeshore trail. Not much to see, other than the lake. On the way back we took a short loop away from the lake and into the swamps, where we saw a couple of woodpeckers (I think one was a downy and the other a hairy woodpecker.)

It's been a couple of years since we stopped at Onondaga Lake Park - I liked it then and I still do, even though it can get pretty crowded in the summer. With luck I'll find some time on one of my trips back and forth this year to stop again, maybe with my bike so I can see more than we were able to get to today.

JMH