The Kopac Trail

Frankie is on spring break this week, and I had today off, so we planned an adventure and lucked out with absolutely beautiful weather.  We decided to go down to Bowman Lakes State Park and check out the Kopac Trail, a Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) passport hike that passes by three different lakes.  I picked up passport books from a trail register last summer and Frankie has really been enjoying them: find the post and take a rubbing.  It adds a fun element because the maps don't disclose where exactly the post is, just that it is somewhere along the designated route.  I hiked the very short section of the passport loop that overlaps the main FLT last fall.  That small section included a playground by Bowman Lake, making this hike chock full of attractions for kids.  I was happy to be exploring (mostly) new trails.

We started at the trailhead on Bliven Sherman Road, where there is a convenient parking area, a kiosk, and a short accessible loop down to Kopac Pond, where there is a viewing deck.  The map on the kiosk is outdated; there have been some re-routes that aren't reflected (at least partially in response to beaver activity).  Always check the online FLT maps for the most recent information; this hike is on map sheet M24.  Having said that, the Kopac Trail is very well marked and we were never confused about where to go. 

Kopac Pond

We stumbled on the passport post far sooner than expected, probably because we started at a different trailhead than that recommended (Bowman Lakes State Park has an enormous campground and I didn't want to navigate the maze of park roads).  Frankie took his rubbing and we set off for the rest of the loop, blazed with blue paint. 

The trail is mostly level in this section, pass through pines before winding down to the berm that dams Bowman Creek to create Bowman Lake.  We paused here to shed layers, then continued north along the lake shore.  The playground beckoned at the far end.  Frankie is funny about playgrounds: he has more or less outgrown them, but is unwilling to admit that and still gets excited.  He doesn't need long, but seems to view them as a checklist: he must circuit through and try all the equipment.  Once all the boxes are checked, we're free to move on.   

After the playground and beach area, the trail renters the woods, running west parallel to the shore, then turning north again and climbing away from the lake. 

sharp-lobed hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba)

A large stone wall marks the boundary of the state park and McDonough State Forest.  The trail turns west here and continues into the state forest, soon reaching the intersection with the yellow blazed spur trail out to Whaley Pond.  We continued straight to take the short out-and-back to the pond. 

This section of trail was quite wet, with many board bridges and many places where additional bridges would have been helpful.  After crossing an especially wide flooded area, the trail climbs gently toward the pond and dries out again. 

Whaley Pond is another pond created by damming a creek, and the trail emerges onto a large grassy berm that appeared to have parking at the other end.  We didn't cross the berm, as Whaley Pond was our planned turn around point, but we hung out for a while at the marshy outlet enjoying the spring peepers and newts.  The peepers were calling so loudly!  I explained to Frankie that they are very hard to spot because of their cryptic coloring, but he spied a pair and then I found another...  it turns out they are a bit distracted during amplexus and forget to hide. 

spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer)

the worst flooding -- the trail is left of the wall, underwater

another peek at Kopac Pond

unnamed tributary of Bowman Creek that drains Kopac Pond (Kopac Creek?)

GaiaGPS tracked this loop at 4.3 miles roundtrip with 330 feet elevation gain.  We could see the old painted-over blazes where the trail back to Kopac Pond had been re-routed, but didn't follow them because we suspected that the old trail was flooded.  This was a really nice little loop, with lots to see along the way -- such a fun one to share with my adventure buddy.