Rob’s Trail joins Canadice and Hemlock

View from Rob's Trail towards Canadice Lake

Two of my favorite spots in the Finger Lakes are Canadice lake and Hemlock  Lake. Hemlock and Canadice are the only Finger Lakes with undeveloped shorelines.

Icey shoreline of Canadice Lake

The City of Rochester spent over 100 years acquiring all lakeshore properties to prevent development of the watershed and to safeguard its primary source of drinking water. When you hike, bike or ski along these shorelines you feel like you are in total wilderness.

View looking west on Rob's Trail

When I saw that there was a trail connecting Hemlock Lake to Canadice Lake, I had to check it out. Rob’s Trail starts just off 15A, on the southern end of Hemlock. The trail is part of the newly designated Hemlock-Canadice State Forest.

Who is Rob? Rob van der Stricht was an avid naturalist, especially fond of the Finger Lakes. The Nature Conservancy officially dedicated this trail to his memory. Thanks Rob, this is an awesome piece of land.

Map of Rob's Trail and spur to Canadice

The 1.75 mile circular trail takes you up over the ridge between the two lakes. Despite the altitude,  this is a very wet area. Fortunately it was cold enough to keep the ground hard, but I noticed a lot of board walks for navigating the muddy trails.

Hiking the winding and sometimes steep spur trail to Canadice

As the trail starts to head east, over the top of the ridge and into the woods, there is a spur trail .75 mi. long, that winds down to the Canadice Lake trail.

I was on the look out for black bears, eagles, deer, ruffed grouse, wild turkey, weasels, but all I saw was some Chickadees and Juncos. However, on the drive back into Hemlock, A gorgeous pheasant sauntered across the road.

Ice sculpture, au natural

I was most impressed by the variety of ice formations in the hundreds of little creeks that wind down the hill to the lake.

I recommend if you hike during cold weather that you wear good hiking shoes or Yak Tracks. The trail can get very steep in parts.

View of 15A from entrance to parking lot

To find Rob’s Trail:  15A south, and through the Village of Hemlock. Continue to top of hill above Hemlock Lake, veering left onto South Old Bald Hill Road. Parking on left.

Other great posts on this topic:  New York Outdoors Blog.