4/13/2010 Hike

Our 2010 Hikes

Our 2010 Hikes - April 13

Great Eastern Trail
Wixon Rd to Moss Hill Lean To
plus Spur Trail

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Date: April 13, 2010

Length of hike: 11.4 miles

Location: near South Bradford, NY

Trailhead: Bailey Road in South Bradford State Forest

Trailhead Coordinates: N42 16.884 W77 07.162

Alternate Trailhead: Parking Area at Mead Creek bridge on CR 26

Alternate TH Coordinates: N42 15.377 W77 06.641

Name of Trails: Great Eastern Trail, Meads Creek Trail

Hike Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous

Elevation Gain: 1380 feet

Trail Conditions: Blazes disappeared at field near Wixon Road. Blazes stopped short of creek near Moss Hill Lean To. Newly built trail.

Features: Scenic streams, small waterfalls, views and Moss Hill Lean To

Links: GET - South Bradford State Forest

Our hike on Tuesday 4/13 featured a new section of the Great Eastern Trail in South Bradford State Forest as well as Meads Creek State Forest and some on private property. The Great Eastern Trail is a work in progress that will span 1800 miles from Alabama to New York, crossing nine states. This section that we hiked includes the future northern terminus of the trail near Moss Hill Lean To.

We decided to use Bailey Road as our main trailhead to make our hikes. The hike for us was to gps this new trail for our website. It's somewhat exciting when all the information you have are a few coordinates for parking spots of the trail. We had no idea how far or for how long we'd be hiking. I did figure about 10 miles when looking at the topo of the area. We had no idea there was a blue blazed trail also.

Bailey Road in South Bradford State Forest

We began by heading south from Bailey Road. I knew Moss Hill Lean To and the northern terminus of the GET was the other way, but decided to save that for later. We were in South Bradford State Forest. After just 0.45 miles we cross a large rock pile and then were rewarded with a scenic stream with a few small waterfalls. We entered private property at a gas pipeline ROW after 0.7 miles of hiking.

We would be on private property for the next 0.8 miles before entering Meads Creek State Forest. Soon you'll see the hard work volunteers did building the trail along the side of a steep slope, attempting to keep the grade at no more than 10% along the trail. They had to cut the trail into the steep slope. There are some views through the trees and you can see how steep this hill truly is.

Approaching a bridge along the blue blazed Meads Creek Trail

At 2.75 miles we reached a blue blazed trail and decided to explore this trail as well get the gps tracks for our maps on the website. We had an idea that the trail lead to the parking area on CR 26 at the Meads Creek bridge, but we had no idea how far the trail went. We reached a nice bridge over a stream and decided this was a great place to take a break. Scrappy jumped right into the stream as I snacked and drank some Gatorade.

The parking area off County Route 26

We reached the parking area along CR 26 at 3.6 miles. This blue blazed trail is 0.8 miles long and leads to Meads Creek, so we decided to name it the Meads Creek Trail. We took a few pics and turned around heading back to the main orange blazed Great Eastern Trail, which we reached at 4.4 miles. This point marks the end of the steepest part of trail we were on (so far).

The GET Rock in Meads Creek State Forest

At 5.1 miles we saw a large rock with two tree stumps on each side with writing on the rock. Someone has chiseled Great Eastern Trail into the rock. We decided to take a break here. Soon we leave the state forest and enter private land. You should begin to have some views of Meads Creek on your left with the best view just as you enter the edge of a field.

Scrappy following the faint path toward Wixon Road

The blazes ended as the last blaze told us to turn left into the main field and we saw a faint path that lead toward Wixon Road. As we made our way to the road we saw no more blazes and no signs at the road to mark the trail. We did see three dogs, however Scrappy wouldn't let them get close to us. She didn't bark, she just looked at them and they backed off.

Wixon Road where the GET reaches the road

From the road we turned around and retraced our tracks back to Bailey Road. We made it back to our vehicle on Bailey Road at 9.3 miles. We decided to eat dinner at the car before heading to the Moss Hill Lean To. I had a sandwich and Scrappy ate a bowl full of dog food before we headed again along the GET.

After a brief level walk we begin to make our descent toward the FLT/NCT and Moss Hill Lean To. Soon the descent becomes steeper along the side of this steep sided slope where trail builders have cut the trail into the side of the hill. There are a few switchbacks and some rock steps as we get closer to the stream. The trail finally reaches the bottom and levels out.

Rock steps along the GET near Moss Hill Lean To

As we approach the stream the orange blazes suddenly end. We guess that the last 150 yards to the FLT/NCT has not been decided, including the stream crossing. We can see the lean to and cross the stream. After resting briefly at the picnic table near the lean to, we head to the white blazes of the Finger Lakes Trail / North Country Trail. We found the flags that we assume will be the future GET terminus. This is located just west of the blue blazed lean to access trail.

View of Moss Hill Lean To from stream

We head back to our vehicle, retracing our steps back to Bailey Road to end our 11.4 mile hike exploring the Great Eastern Trail in South Bradford State Forest and Meads Creek State Forest. There was an overall elevation gain of 1380 feet for our hike. We'll have a video of this section of the GET soon. Be sure to use the link above to see a more detailed description of this section of the GET.

Directions: NY 226 to Steuben County Route 17. CR 17 to Bailey Road. Bailey Road to the GET crossing, which currently has no signage. You'll notice the orange blazes in the trees.