In October, I drove north to Onondaga County, NY to visit my aunt. While there, we visited one of my old stomping grounds where I used to love to hike in the woods, cross country ski and enjoy the sight of spring Trilliums and sounds of birdlife. When I was a child in the 60’s, before it was a nature center, parts of Beaver Lake were used by the locals as a swimming hole in haying season.
Beaver Lake is described as a “kettle hole” lake formed where a glacier had rested during the Ice Age and made a deep impression filled with meltwater. It is a 200 acre lake that attracts migratory waterfowl in 670 acres of field, forest and wetland habitats. The lake has a fen (frequently flooded area) where one can find cranberries, sundew, pitcherplant and bladderwort, blueberries, pickerel weed and arum.
It was a brisk afternoon when we arrived. I hadn’t been to Beaver Lake since 1983 and it had added a number of trails since then. There are 9 miles of trails. To avoid being stuck behind a school group. we ended up taking the lake trail which turned into a very, very long walk for us! However, taking the lake trail led over many boardwalks (some slightly inundated by all the seasonal rain). The leaf color season had come to a quick conclusion though there were still some bright yellows in evidence. This is an area where sugar, mountain,red, silver, striped–and Norway maples grow readily (thus my memories of gorgeous fall colors) as do white birches, beech, hemlock and spruce. It’s zone 5.
Here is a gallery of photos that show our walk around the lake.
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- Sugar maple on the way to Beaver lake
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- The nature center
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- Woodsy trail
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- Looking up
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- Glimpse of the lake
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- Submerged areas
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- One of many areas of boardwalk
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- Leaves on the trail
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- stretch of dry boardwalk
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- Another view of the lake
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- Boggy area with native plants of NY
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- Swampy area with floating duckweed
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- Skinny trees
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- Sunshine breaks through
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- Home stretch
