This 7.8 mile section of the Finger Lakes Trail / North Country trail begins as the trail turns right off Rushford Road and into the 1563 acre Swift Hill State Forest.  The start of this section is the highest point along the trail within this section at 2053 feet and the end of this section will bring you to an elevation of 1319 feet at Buffalo Road, near the fording of Sixtown Creek. 

A warning for those hiking this section after heavy rain, fording Sixtown Creek can be dangerous at times.  The normal water level is about six inches deep.

View from Swift Hill State Forest (picture by Kirk Doyle)

After 1.7 miles of hiking you will leave Swift Hill State Forest and enter private property.  After descending for 0.1 mile you'll reach an old railroad grade, which you will turn right, following the old grade.  This is the old Buffalo & Susquehanna Railroad and this grade was cut right into the side of the hill.  Follow this old railroad bed for just under a mile before the trail turns left off the grade.

The Buffalo & Susquehanna Railroad was a regional railroad straddling the New York - Pennsylvania border. It was formed in 1885 by a Buffalo lumber and fuel dealer named Frank Goodyear.  The Goodyear lumber and coal empire flourished and the railroad ran spurs and branch lines up almost every creek and valley in the area. Numerous related companies were formed, including the Goodyear Lumber Company and Lackawanna Lumber Company which by 1902 reported more than 140 miles of spurs. As coal and lumber supplies were exhausted in one area the track was pulled up and laid in another.

To get their coal and lumber to market, the Goodyears built the Buffalo & Susquehanna Railroad north from Wellsville to Buffalo. This line was completed in 1906 and linked the coal and timber lands to the ships of the Buffalo & Susquehanna Steamship Company in Buffalo. At it's height, the railroad ran 250 miles from Buffalo to Sagamore, PA and had more than 400 miles of track.  Unfortunately, the boom turned quickly to a bust and the Goodyear family plus the B&S had a sudden reversal of fortune. Frank Goodyear died in 1907.

Watch the white blazes closely as you continue to descend into the small hamlet of Higgins.  After crossing Ballard Road, you'll be hiking backyards to the crossing of Rogers Road.  After crossing Rogers Road you will reach the junction of the blue blazed hunting and high water bypass trail, that also leads to a campsite near Creek Road.  There are a few stiles to cross in this section.  Use the bypass trail during hunting season as the trail ahead is CLOSED for hunting from May 1-31 and Oct 13 - Dec 22.

In 2.3 miles you will see the blue blazed spur trail that leads 0.25 miles to the Marge Hinz Campsite.  The Marge Hinz Campsite was funded by the National Park Service and includes a wheel chair accessible fire ring, outhouse and a table.  The site is located near a creek.

The trail now makes its descent toward Sixtown Creek and this section ends just after the fording of the creek at Buffalo Road.

Sixtown Creek (picture by Kirk Doyle)

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