Rob's Trail Preserve

Hours of Visitation: Rob’s Trail Preserve is open year-round from dawn to dusk.

Parking: Visitors should note that this Preserve has two parking lots. The lot for the Hemlock Trailhead can be found just off of Route 15A, while the lot for the Canadice Trailhead can be found just south of the Hemlock lot off of Old Bald Head Rd S. The two trailheads take approximately 1 minute to drive between.

What to See: Animals: Bald eagles nest at the south end of Hemlock Lake and may be seen kettling overhead. As you hike through the successional woodland keep an eye out for migrating warblers, turkeys and ruffed grouse. Deer and weasels can also be spotted on occasion. Bees and butterflies harvest nectar from the abundant asters and goldenrods in the fall.

Plants: Rob’s Trail passes through several types of habitats, from old-field herbaceous plants to mature hardwood forest, a journey that mirrors the changes that will happen here over the next 100 years. Mature trees include white oak, sugar maple, and shagbark hickory. Clones of green ash form uniform stands. Goldenrod, buckthorn, native gray dogwood, turtlehead and closed gentian can also be found here.

Hunting Information: Rob’s Trail Preserve is open during hunting season (Oct 1 – Dec 21, Dec 26 – Jan 1). Written permission is required to hunt on TNC lands. To learn more about our hunting program or to obtain permission to hunt, please visit our New York hunting information page. Rob’s Trail remains open to hikers during the hunting season, unless otherwise specified for an event.

Rob’s Trail is located on both TNC and NYSDEC owned lands. Both landowners permit hunting on their lands and keep trails open to all trail users throughout the year.  We recommend visitors wear blaze orange while enjoying trail system during hunting season. 

Guidelines: Take a moment to review the trailhead kiosks, which describe the trails, the property’s import role in protecting drinking water and the geological forces that created the Finger Lakes. See our full preserve visitation guidelines for more information. 

The preserve features the following trails: The Canadice Lake Trail (.9 miles to the NYS Forest Boundary), and the Hemlock Trail (0.9 miles to the waterfall, and 1.5 miles to the shoreline).

Canadice Lake Trail: Enjoy views of successional meadow and walk the raised boardwalks through the forest. The typical width of the trail is about 45”. At the eastern boundary, the Canadice Lake trail crosses into a NYS DEC protected forest. The trail continues down to the lake through a hardwood forest. The typical width of the trail is around 18”. The trail continues down to a NYDEC logging road with a typical grade of 9.5%. The maximum grade is 56.5% with an elevation loss of over 750 feet, so the hike from the logging road back to the trailhead parking lot will be steep. Visitors can also take a 1.5 mile hike north from the Canadice Lake Shore to the NYDEC Purcell Hill Road parking lot.

Hemlock Lake Trail: Enjoy a beautiful hike on one of Western New York’s premiere trails. From the parking lot, head 1.5 miles down the trail through a hemlock forest to the Hemlock Lake shoreline. There is an elevation loss of over 1200 feet with a typical grade of 7.4%, but the maximum grade along the trail reaches as high as 48.5%, so be prepared for a more strenuous hike on the way back from the shoreline to the trailhead parking lot. Continuing north from the shoreline an additional 3.3 miles will take visitors to the Hemlock Lake North Boat Launch.