Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve

Visited May 31, 2021

93 Honorine Drive, Depew, NY 14043 (Erie County)

68 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny

Toilets available in the building by the parking and the entrance.

No mosquitos bothered us. There were informational signs about ticks.  We did not pick up any just by walking on the trails and boardwalks.

No cost to access these trails. 

No dogs allowed at this park. 

There are trail maps at the information board by the entrance as you leave the paved lot.  The lot will hold approximately 40+ cars.  There were two solar-powered electric car charging stations.

I would budget at least two hours minimum if you want to explore the trails. It took two hours for just shy of 3 miles and explored most of the trails.  That included a long stop to watch a heron hunt in one of the ponds.  The shaded wooded trails had informational signs and trail junctions were clearly marked.  There were many well-placed benches along the trails.

The trails were dry.  During warmer weather, shorts would be sufficient here.  I usually recommend long pants for hikes but these trails do not appear to be overgrown where long grasses would be a problem.  These trails would be considered an “easy” difficulty rating due to  the flat, well-groomed, natural-surfaced trails and a boardwalk area.  I did not see litter anywhere.  There were many people here but we had space to enjoy our visit with friends.  The trails were wide enough for pairs to walk side by side.

Today I saw robins, red-winged blackbirds, a heron, butterflies, and dragonflies. We saw turtles sunning on logs floating in the ponds.

There are American beech, evergreens (hemlock?), maples, cherry, and other varieties of trees.  We saw phlox, May apples, ferns, and ponds loaded with pink water lilies.  

This park is part of the WNY Summer 2021 Hiking Challenge.  I joined the Summer 2021 challenge and this was the fourteenth trail I completed for the challenge:  https://outsidechronicles.com/challenge.

For more information about the park:

https://reinsteinwoods.org/.

Nearby:

JP Fitzgeralds ( 22 min./ 17 mi.)

4236 Clark Street, Hamburg, NY

https://jpfitzgeralds.com/

I love this pub and its food.  It hosts indoor and outdoor dining.  If arriving at dinner hour, plan to call ahead.  They provide polite, efficient service.

Re-visited December 29, 2022

Snowshoed here with friends Melissa and Andrew.  We experienced wind chills below zero just a few days ago but today the snow was melting in the 40-50 degree sunshine.  The snow was still in good enough shape for snowshoeing from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM.

We followed the snowshoe tracks that took us around the main Reinstein Pond and ended watching birds at the feeders by the center.  

The restrooms were open.  

As we left the trails, there was a sign reminding us to sign out before leaving.  I will try to remember to look for the sign in book on my next visit.  Maybe it is by the large kiosk near parking?  There are usually many people there and I tend to avoid highly populated spaces which might explain why I did not see a sign in book.  

We passed over twenty people snowshoeing, hiking, and cross country skiing.  One family was trying snowshoeing for the first time and had rented the snow shoes at the center.  They shared with me that rentals were $10 for the day.  

We saw milkweed, cherry trees, male cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, and nuthatches. 

Nearby:

Duff's Famous Wings, 550 Dick Road, Depew, New York 14043

Their wings and fries were yummy.  Nice casual atmosphere and clean bathrooms.

June 10, 2023. 11:00 AM, 72 degrees

Visited again so that I could show the water lilies to my mom.

Restrooms were open and BONUS! the nature center was open so we watched the bird feeders from the windows inside and met the nature center turtles.  My daughter would have loved this center when she was little as it has areas devoted to ages under 10 but there were elements to appeal to even the most jaded and aged.

While on the trails, we saw a heron preening from the closest distance I have even been to the unique birds.

And then we heard such screeching just off the trail.  From watching videos later, mom realized what we heard and what she saw was a momma and her young river otter.  What a neat experience!  The entire visit, I was really hoping to see some turtles sunning themselves on a log.  At the very last section of trail, we saw a painted turtle on the trail and she slid back into the water and we saw a tiny turtle on a log.

We walked around the two main pond trails today.