The College Lodge

Visited April 3, 2021, September 6, 2021, May 15, 2022

The College Lodge, 8067 Route 380, Brocton, NY 14716

45 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny

The outhouse is open to the public located near the main parking lot near the lodge. Basic but meets the need. I would bring your own toilet paper.

Dogs are not welcome on this site.

No gnats or mosquitos at this time of year.

No cost to access these trails.

Plentiful parking. The parking area and driveway in is a gravel and milled surface. Only one other vehicle while I was there on a Saturday before noon.

I rambled about for 2.7 miles on the yellow, white, green, and red trails; but I did not walk every trail today. There are many plants to enjoy and in a few weeks, the spring ephemerals will be in bloom. I enjoyed visiting the “ruins”, the bird blind, and the lean to. The trails are dirt and leaf litter with some wooden bridges that can be slippery if they are wet. These trails are beautiful in the summer and breathtaking when the leaves turn in autumn. I have enjoyed snowshoeing here and there is a trail marked as a cross country ski trail. The previous land manager told my husband and me that the ruins you see on the green trail not far from the driveway was a mill built by the first settler of the property.

Be aware of poison ivy.

Plan to be here at least a few hours to give yourself enough time to explore.

Today I saw Canada geese and robins. I heard woodpeckers and ducks. The trout lilies are starting to peek through last fall’s leaf litter. Gorgeous examples of hemlock grow near where the Red and Green Trails meet.

This is a great place for geocaching. To learn more about geocaching, visit www.geocaching.com. Update 2024: The new owners of the property have closed down the geocaches.

The College Lodge is also part of the WNY Summer Hiking Challenge. I joined the Summer 2021 challenge and this was the second trail I completed for the challenge. https://outsidechronicles.com/challenge

“Everything is made new in the spring. Springs themselves are always so new, too. No spring is ever just like any other spring. It always has something of its own to be its peculiar sweetness.” ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of the Island

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9/6/21: Visited again 1:45-3:15 PM. 69 degrees Fahrenheit. 3 other cars in lot and we passed all three groups of 2, 4, and 3 people.

Picked up a few small pieces of trash.

Walked Red trail to the outer Green Trail, taking the trail to where it comes out on the College Lodge Driveway (approximately a 3-mile loop). A more rigorous trail than on the rest of the property and the trail is in need of some chainsaw maintenance.

5/15/22: Visited today 8:00-9:20 AM. 69 muggy degrees, 2 cars when I arrived, 2 when I left. Met a few other 2022 Hiking Challengers when I arrived; this was my first hike of this year's challenge despite the challenge beginning on May 1. Took the Red Trail (Darwin Trail) some of the Green Trail (XC Trail), Blue Trail (Muir Trail), and College Course Trail. Part of the Green Trail was underwater again (photo below). There were some very muddy sections but overall the trails were solid and dry. Many trees are down on the trails so I would not recommend attempting these trails with a stroller. I picked up the one piece of trash I saw on the Green Trail after scaring a deer off. Today, I heard a turkey, many Canada geese, a woodpecker, sweet little birds (not sure of their names), beautiful old Eastern hemlocks, cherry trees, a pretty flowering tree, white and purple violets, water lily pads, skunk cabbage, ground pine, princess pine, mayapple, a millipede, an eft, and a snail. After a bit of rain last night, this morning's rays of sunshine glistened beautifully and the Mother Nature was stunning. Needed this dose of Nature Therapy today. Was there on my own today...just me, myself, and memories of three decades of my hikes here with family and friends.

This hike is part of the WNY Hiking Challenge, Summer 2022. To learn more: https://outsidechronicles.com/summer/.

Nearby points of interest:

Burr Road Falls, 5673-5711 Burr Rd, Brocton, NY 14716

The area around it is not much to see, but the falls are pretty for a quick stop on your way to or from The College Lodge.

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

Scudder's Blueberry Farm

348 West Main Street, Fredonia, NY 14063

http://chautauqua.cce.cornell.edu/chautauqua-grown/scudders-blueberry-farm

Tasty blueberries in nice neat rows...easy picking.

Outhouse

Enterprising birds built nests at the top of each of the four posts of this shelter at the entrance to the green, white, and yellow trails.

Paper wasp nest in the clearing on the yellow trail.

Keep following along the left side of the clearing to pick up the yellow trail when you come into this clearing. There are briars. Long pants are recommended.

Neat ice on the trails when I first arrived. Most of it melted before I finished my visit.

The Lean To

The Lean To on the White Trail

Daughter was my walking companion today!

I can't tell if these are trillium or leeks but they are a welcome vibrant green this time of year.

The ruins of what we were told by one of the past property managers of the College Lodge was a sawmill of one of the first settlers in the area.

Green Trail

View from behind the lodge. Lake Erie in the distance.

Referred to as the amphitheater

Red Trail

I do not know what these little plants are called but they are pretty.

I grew up calling this Princess Pine.

Neat growths on this tree.

Trees with roots like this fascinate me. I expect them to start walking before my eyes.

The Bird Blind is to the left in this picture. We took the Red Trail from the lodge and hung a left onto the Green Trail.

Skunk cabbage will be bright green in another week or two. Pretty neat looking plant in its early stages each spring. I read once that black bears love skunk cabbage.