CAZENOVIA — This winter, the Cazenovia Preservation Foundation (CPF) has invited the public to get outside and take advantage of the snowy conditions through its Snowshoe Sunday series.
The free, family-friendly excursions begin and end at Meier’s Creek Brewing Company at 33 Rippleton Rd. in Cazenovia. Hikers meet near the trail sign at the western end of the parking lot, then head downhill toward the Lorenzo State Historic Site, skirting its southern field before crossing the old railroad track and entering CPF’s Fairchild Hill trail system.
CPF Executive Director Jen Wong, or a member of the CPF board, welcomes participants and leads the entire group for the first approximately half mile. After taking a break atop Fairchild Hill to enjoy the view, hikers can choose between two or three different routes — depending on the size and interests of the group — that range in round-trip distance from approximately one mile to a more extended 3.5-4-mile trek on CPF’s adjoining Burlingame trail system. CPF board members, staff, and experienced volunteers lead the hikes to ensure participant safety.
Once they return to the brewery, adult participants receive a Meier’s Creek buy-one-get-one-free draft beer special coupon.
A limited number of adult- and kid-size snowshoes are available to borrow; they can be reserved online in advance.
“The partnership with Meier’s Creek Brewing Company has been very successful,” said CPF board member Andy Mistur. “It’s a natural fit given the proximity of our trails and the brewery, and their staff has been fantastic in helping with these events. The outing becomes a multi-faceted experience for participants, and Meier’s is marketing to their Syracuse-area audience as well, so that’s bringing more people to Caz to dine, shop, and recreate. Win-win.”
CPF held its inaugural Snowshoe Sunday in February 2021. The event became a recurring series in 2022, with hikes occurring on the second and fourth Sundays of January, February, and March.
According to CPF Communications and Development Specialist Mary Kate Gutiérrez, winter has traditionally been the organization’s quiet season in terms of programming; however, it wanted to offer some winter activities to encourage people to get outside for fresh air and exercise and embrace the season.
At the same time, CPF was approached by a potential partner, Friends of Stoney Pond (FROSTY), who was looking for ways to encourage engagement in winter outdoor activities throughout the greater Cazenovia area and was willing to make snowshoeing gear available for the public.
“I knew that I would be out on the trails a few weekends a month anyway,” said Wong, “so it seemed like an easy lift to make it a CPF snowshoe event, and if a dozen or so people wanted to join me on any given Sunday, well, that was even better.”
Initially, CPF began its snowshoe hikes from the Fairchild Hill parking area behind the brown building at the intersection of US Rt. 20 and Rt. 92.
In 2023, as the events grew in popularity, the meet-up location was moved to Meier’s Creek to allow for additional parking, provide a venue for socializing after the hikes, and further highlight the trail grooming partnership between FROSTY, Lorenzo, Meier’s Creek, and CPF.
This year’s snowshoe season began on Jan. 12; the final event is scheduled for March 23.
“This year, we’ve had great luck and have had snow for all our events,” Gutiérrez reported on Feb. 27. “However, even during last year’s milder weather, participants were happy to come on a winter hike even when we didn’t have enough snow to warrant snowshoes.”
Participation in Snowshoe Sundays has skyrocketed this year with the return to more traditional Central New York winter weather conditions.
According to CPF, the first hike of the season set a record with 95 hikers, a special lantern-lit snowshoe hike during Cazenovia Winter Fest had 250 participants, and the other three Snowshoe Sundays each drew between 50 and 65 hikers.
“We get a great mix of participants,” said CPF Board Vice-President Dave Gerber. “There are active local hikers who enjoy the social component of the event, other folks who are new to our trail system and appreciate exploring the trails with a CPF guide, and a whole lot of people who simply want to try snowshoeing for the first time. We try to make sure that we’re addressing the needs of all participants and, most importantly, that everyone’s having a lot of fun doing it.”
To register for a Snowshoe Sunday event, visit cazpreservation.org/events.
About FROSTY
FROSTY is a non-profit organization that fosters year-round outdoor recreation through its efforts in trail development and maintenance, snow grooming, snowshoe rentals, and advocacy of human-powered trails-based activities throughout Madison County.
FROSTY volunteers regularly groom trails around Stoney Pond, Lorenzo, Meier’s Creek, the Nelson Swamp trail, and CPF’s Fairchild Hill, Burlingame, and Gorge trails.
Information about winter trail conditions is available at cazpreservation.org/winter-trails and nordic-pulse.com/ski-areas/US/NY/Cazenovia-Trails.
In 2023, the Cazenovia Area Community Development Association secured a Central New York Community Foundation grant on behalf of FROSTY to purchase a second set of snow grooming equipment to be stored at Lorenzo for exclusive use on the Cazenovia-area trails.
According to Gutiérrez, this has allowed CPF and the other Cazenovia-area venues to respond to snow conditions more quickly and increase the mileage of the groomed trail network.
“We’re so appreciative of all the work that the FROSTY volunteers and the Lorenzo staff have done to keep the trails in really great shape,” said CPF Stewardship Committee Co-chair Jack Stevens. “Unlike last year, they’re really putting that grooming equipment to good use this season.”
To learn more about FROSTY, visit facebook.com/frostytrails.
