Clyde L. Burmaster Park (Bond Lake)

Visited June 26, 2021

2571 Lower Mountain Road, Ransomville, NY 14131 (Niagara County)

I used "Bond Lake Park" as my Google Maps point and that brought me to the large paved lot near the warming hut and sledding hill. Across the road just before this lot is a smaller unpaved lot that the horse trailers were using.

76-78 degrees Fahrenheit, some sunshine with a breeze at 11:30 AM to 12:00 PM

Toilets may be in the warming hut. I did not look. There was a porta-potty in the parking lot but based on a man calling to his friend for "paper towels", I am going to guess that the toilet paper had not been restocked lately.

Leashed dogs are welcome on the trails. Please bring baggies and carry out your trash and any dog poo.

I had on bug spray, long pants, t-shirt, and hat; the weather was perfect for mosquitos and they enjoyed my visit.

I did not see poison ivy on the short section of trail that I visited.

No cost to access these trails.

To walk from the parking lot to a "distinctive tree" and picnic table with a view using the yellow trail was 1.2 miles and too about 1/2 hour. There was more more trail to explore and the trail conditions I experienced were very nice with wood chips as a surface but I hope to return earlier in the day and maybe on a weekday because a Saturday at 11:00 is prime disc golf time and being on a "golf course" is not the vibe I seek when I am out on the trail. I did not see any trash on the short section of trail I visited. While out on the trail and returning to my vehicle, I passed many disc golfers including two dogs.

The trail surface was treated with wood chips and there was no mud. This trail was wide enough for two to walk side by side. A bridge takes you over Burnt Ship Creek. The trail took me under the blue Grand Island Bridges! At one point near the bridges, a paved bike trail overlaps and then moves along. The entire hike is a level walk and I would classify it as easy. There were inclines to navigate and now I know that all of the numbers on the map I had indicated where the disc golf targets were.

Visiting this after the beauty of Buckhorn Island State Park and at 11:00AM on a Saturday really caused it to suffer by comparison. I hope to return and walk the loop around Bond Lake in an effort to have a different experience.

There are many varieties of trees. I saw grapevine, mayapple, ferns, Virginia creeper, and black raspberries.

This hike is part of the Summer 2021 WNY Hiking Challenge. For more information:

https://outsidechronicles.com/challenges

For more information and a map: https://www.niagaracounty.com/parks/Clyde-L-Burmaster-Bond-Lake-Park