Sprague Brook County Park

Visited April 10, 2021

9674 Foote Road, Glenwood, NY 14069

68 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny

Bathrooms are open to the public in the casino building at the base of the sledding hill. When we entered the park by the Foote Road entrance, we took a left and the building was there next to the tennis courts. We parked in that lot. Every other lot we saw was at capacity or one car shy of it at 10:15 AM on this sunny Saturday. There are other bathroom facilities that open during the summer months.

Dogs on leash are welcome. Come prepared to pick up after your dog.

This park has 19 miles of trail. I would allow 3 hours or more to fully enjoy the trails. (Be sure to pack in water with you and bring your trash home with you.) The trails were dry today; we could have worn sneakers. The trails were single file most of the way. Long pants were not needed today but maybe when the grass gets taller though it looks as if the maintenance crew keeps up with mowing the trails. There is a nice veteran’s memorial near the edge of Sprague Brook Trail; it has a meandering paved trail to a pretty pond. The hill that is across the road from this memorial provides a view of Kissing Bridge Ski Resort’s slopes. There was still some snow visible today.

This park in the southern part of Erie County offers a tennis court, picnic pavillions, and camping sites. Many of the visitors were enjoying the fishing in the ponds. Dogs and people were splashing in the stream. We were passed by quite a few mountain bikers. In the winter, there is a sledding hill and cross-country ski trails.

Mosquitos were not a problem for us today.

No cost for parking.

Plentiful parking in a paved lot and smaller unpaved lots. Total spots will host 50+ cars.

While in the park, my mom, my daughter, and I saw a blue bird, butterflies, wildflowers (saw my first violet of the year!), gorgeous giant trees, and a number of happy dogs. There was one cross-country ski trail which had signage saying “no dogs” over to the right-hand side of the park.

Sprague Brook County Park is part of the WNY Summer Hiking Challenge. I joined the Summer 2021 challenge and this was the sixth trail I completed for the challenge. https://outsidechronicles.com/challenge

For more information about the park and its trails:

https://www2.erie.gov/parks/sprague-brook

https://www.hikingproject.com/directory/8013304/sprague-brook-county-park

Nearby:

Griffis Sculpture Park

6902 Mill Valley Road, East Otto, NY 14729

A neat place to explore.

https://griffispark.org/

The Bigelow Bridge (AKA the Blue Bridge)

A very quick stop off Route 240 where it crosses the Cattaraugus Creek south of Route 240's intersection with Route 39. Some people park here to fish. I am old enough to remember when this was the bridge on Route 240. There is a historic marker but it has been badly treated.

https://bridgehunter.com/ny/cattaraugus/3060570/

Visited July 20, 2021

9674 Foote Road, Glenwood, NY 14069

85 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny

The casino building at the base of the sledding hill was not open today but the building housing restroom facilities was. It has an electric car charging station outside of it. When we entered the park by the Foote Road entrance, we took a left and the building was across from the tennis courts. There were many available parking spots in the park on this Tuesday morning between 10:54 AM and 12:54 PM.

Dogs on leash are welcome. Come prepared to pick up after your dog.

This park has 19 miles of trail. I would allow at least two hours or more to hike the approximately four-miles of the Main Trail until it leads to the New Main Loop Trail . (Be sure to pack in water with you and bring your trash home with you.) The trails were dry today but there were muddy sections. The trails were single file with sections that were wide enough to walk side by side. Long pants were not needed today except for one grassy section on the back section of trail where motorhomes were in view. So many beautiful shades of green have grown up since I visited earlier in the year.

We saw a few people and their dogs when we arrived. A few people were enjoying their lunch at the shelters as we returned to our car.

I wore long pants and bug spray; the mosquitos were hungry today with the warm temperatures and the recent weeks of rain.

No cost for parking.

Plentiful parking in a paved lot and smaller unpaved lots. Total spots will host 50+ cars.

While in the park with my mom, daughter, brother, sister-in-law, and Wesley, I saw moths, butterflies, a tiny toad, a snail, mosses, ferns, goldenrod preparing to bloom in September, and jewelweed. There were birch, beech, oak, maple, hemlock, pine, and ash trees. Some of them were gorgeous giants among their peers. Many mushrooms and fungi were flourishing due to the past two weeks of rain and the warm weather.