Lower Robert Treman State Park – Two Hikes
For both hikes:
Meet-up: Dirt parking lot off Route 34-96 northbound precisely where Route 13 northbound coming up from Elmira joins in. The lot is down a little hill and right next to Enfield Creek. (This is the same parking lot we use for the Lick Brook walk. when we approach Sweedler Nature Preserve at Lick Brook through the Tapan Mitra Preserve)
Click here to see the Google Maps page showing the location.
Warning: Never try to pull into the parking lot directly from the southbound lanes of the highway, as this can be very dangerous. Instead, keep going south on State Route 34-96 after State Route 13 breaks away toward Elmira. After a few hundred feet you’ll come to a U-turn – head back north to Ithaca on State Route 34-96 and watch for the parking lot entrance on your right.
Hike # 1 – On the Finger Lakes Trail: Out-and-Back Hike
The Finger Lakes Trail, which runs along the south edge of Robert Treman State Park, gives you a back-end view of one of Ithaca’s most popular tourist sites. It doesn’t have the drama of the Treman gorge trail or the rim trail, but it’s a great walk in its own right, with a steady flow of very beautiful woodland scenes. The trail climbs somewhat steeply for much of the outbound leg, and it can be strenuous at times. It has several advantages over the gorge and rim trails –– it’s open year round, it’s never crowded, and dogs are welcome.
Hike # 2- FLT to Rim Trail to Gorge Trail : Loop Hike
Many hikers prefer a loop hike over an out-and-back hike. It’s possible to make this into a loop hike by combining the Finger Lakes Trail with the Gorge and Rim Trails, when those are open during the summer and fall months.
Hikers on the FLT wanting to access the Rim and Gorge Trails may do so by leaving the FLT near the YMCA pavilion and hiking the YMCA access road to its terminus near an old gravel pit. The Rim Trail and the remainder of the park trails may be accessed from that location. We occasionally make our hike of the FLT into a loop hike by taking this route and returning to Lower Treman via a combination of the Rim and Gorge Trails. The Gorge Trail portion in particular offers a nice walk along the streambed during the summer months as well as an elevated view of the stream and surrounding area below as the trail climbs the hills before the final descent into lower Robert Treman.
This hike tends to run a few minutes longer than our normal two hour hike duration.
Click here to see a nice PDF map showing the main trails in the park.
Paper and digital maps of the Finger Lakes Trail in this area are available from the Finger Lakes Trail Conference at:
About Finger Lakes Trail Maps and GPS data
Map sheet M16 available at the above link depicts this portion of the Finger Lakes Trail and surrounding areas
A virtual tour of Robert Treman State Park:
A Virtual Tour of Robert H. Treman State Park – YouTube
Last edit 01/2023 JFR