Rails to Trails, Alison Wells Ney Nature Trail

Visited April 28, 2021

Paved parking: near 108 Highland Road, Brocton, NY 14716

Unpaved parking: at the end of School Street, Brocton, NY 14716

71 degrees Fahrenheit, overcast, humid

No toilets available.

Dogs must be leashed.

The trail is flat for nice easy going since it is an old rail road bed and this 1/2-mile section is paved.

No cost for parking. Paved at the Highland Avenue end. Dirt at the School Street end of the trail.

Limited parking in the dirt lot but more parking available in the Highland Avenue parking area. We only passed 2 other walkers and their dog around 7:00 PM. Over the years, we have passed parents with their young children on scooters or bikes with training wheels; it is a nice trail for that.

We saw dandelions, apple blossoms, strawberry blossoms, and poison ivy at the edge of the paved trail. There were many birds singing their bedtime songs...just beautiful. Then we could hear the nearby train.

There are some recommended trail rules to make the experience enjoyable for everyone.

• Trails open dawn to dusk.

• Carry in, carry out. Leave no trash. And may I add, that means cleaning up after your dogs. (Many of the dogs who have been on this trail recently did not have owners who picked up after them. This trail always has litter on the edge of it. I always fill a small bag whenever I visit.)

For more information about the Rails to Trails: https://chaurtt.org/trails/.

There are geocaches on this trail. This is a fun hobby for the family. www.geocaching.com.

NEARBY ITEMS OF INTEREST:

Brad Anderson & Marmaduke Statue, 87 West Main Street, Portland, NY 14716

For those of us old enough to have grown up with the big dog in the Sunday Comics.

The Brocton Arch, Route 20, Brocton, NY 14716 (22 East Main Street, Brocton, NY 14716)

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

September 9, 2021: Visited the unpaved section of the trail between Highland Avenue and Webster Road. This is .6 miles so 1.2 total if you walk from Highland to Webster and back again. Even if you are geocaching, 40 minutes should be enough. This is a nice flat gravel path.

Long pants not needed unless you are geocaching.

I have never visited this trail when I have not encountered litter to pick. Today was no exception.

I had the trail to myself except one person I passed as I returned to parking.

Saw cat tails, Virginia creeper, staghorn sumac, wild grape, goldenrod, milkweed, Queen Anne's lace, poison ivy (off trail), jewel weed, birds foot, and some late phlox.