I had been saving this hike for a while, intending to bring Frankie down with me so we could climb the nearby fire tower on Berry Hill. However, I recently got a Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) passport book from a trail register, and Frankie has *really* enjoyed the couple passport rubbings he's done so far so. I discovered there is a passport hike on an FLT spur trail within Bowman Lake State Park, the Kopac Loop Trail, and it seemed like that might be a more interesting pairing for Frankie. Which put this section back on the table as a solo hike, and I decided to prioritize it before rifle season starts because it is my only off-road section left on M24. By hiking this today, I can complete the M24 roadwalks during rifle season and finish another map sheet. Exciting stuff!
Anyway, I started this hike at the parking spot designated "Tower Rd-North" on the FLT mapping. Tower Road is a seasonal dirt road, but there is adequate space to park safely and very little traffic. From the trailhead, the FLT heads east into McDonough State Forest, then turns south and parallels the road for perhaps 0.4 mile before bending back and crossing to the west side of Tower Road.
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looking southeast from the Tower-Rd North trailhead
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looking south at the Tower-Rd South trailhead
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I was all decked out in orange because it is bow season now. Once I warmed up, I had to stop and delayer, removing the sweatshirt so the orange layer was still on top. The trail continues westward after crossing Tower Road, then turns south and continues straight across Preston Road.
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looking east at the Preston Road crossing
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About half a mile south of the Preston Road crossing, the FLT enters Bowman Lake State Park, then turns east and descends to Bowman Creek. Two nice footbridges ease this crossing, and the thick cloud cover suddenly dissipated. The temperature was still hovering right around freezing, but the sunbeams bursting through the trees gave the forest that warm glow that feels so magical in autumn.
After crossing Bowman Creek, the trail climbs gently and then descends and approaches the creek again, passing through hemlocks on the final approach to the lake and developed portion of the state park. The trail crosses a park road then goes down to the lake and follows the shore for a bit.
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Bowman Lake, looking north from the swimming area
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After turning away from the water, the FLT follows park roads through the campground, all the way out past the park entrance and pay station. The trail then turns right for a brief roadwalk on Bliven Sherman Road. I parked at the trailhead on Bliven Sherman Road back in April and hiked south, so this was my turnaround point on today's hike.
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campground road
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my turnaround point at the Bliven Sherman Road trailhead
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From here I simply retraced my steps the way I came, re-entering the park via the main entrance, and following the roads back through the campground. Bowman Lake is quite a small waterbody, but the campground seems enormous.
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this old stone wall runs along the border between the state park and state forest
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looking north-northwest at the Preston Road crossing
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approaching the Tower-Rd South crossing
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GaiaGPS tracked this out-and-back hike at 7.5 miles with 475 feet elevation gain roundtrip. I'm glad to have hiked here in the off-season when the campground was quiet, and grateful that my timing was such that I saw both the lake and the creek in the brief window of sunshine. I started and finished the hike under heavy cloud cover and even hiked through some graupel. It's all good.
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