Each year, the FLTC cooperates with affiliate organizations to sponsor a Cross-County Hike Series. The series includes several organized hikes, about one per month, that are intended to promote hiking on the Finger Lakes Trail. Many members use these hikes in their quest for End-to-End awards. When you register for a series and participate in all of the hikes, you will have crossed a major section of the Finger Lakes Trail. There is a modest registration fee that covers the cost of transportation between the ends of each hike.

2015 Cross County Hike Series

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

The Cross County Series continues its westward march. In April we will begin at the border between Steuben and Allegany Counties. Our journey will cover 62.3 miles of the Finger Lakes Main Trail. The bulk of hikes will be in Allegany County but the trail will bring us through short sections of Livingston (13 miles) and Wyoming Counties (7 miles), a three County bargain in one hiking season.

The six hiking dates are on Saturday – April 18th, May 16th, June 20th, July 25th, August 15th and September 19th. The April hike will cover the shortest distance of 9 miles while the following month we will tackle our longest of 12 miles.

The first four of six hikes proceed east to west through state forest / lands of Bully Hill, Klipnocky and Slader Creek. We then descend to the Canaserage valley home of Swain Ski Resort. Here we will have one of our most challenging hikes of the series with an assent of 700 feet as the FLT briefly enters the south west corner of Rattlesnake Hill State Wildlife Management Area before returning to the valley. In July we will complete the easterly path at the Genesee River where the trail meets the southern terminus of the Letchworth Branch, at Whiskey Bridge. The next two hikes will go west to east and we will complete our series again at the Genesee River. This will put us in close proximity of Letchworth State Park where we will celebrate the series and new found companionship with a picnic in the eastern side of the park at the Parade Grounds site.

Registration

The fee will remain at $40 and covers transportation by bus that will shuttle hikers from their cars to the beginning of each hike. The fee also includes a completion patch, certificate, supplies for the SAG wagons and the picnic.

You can register by US mail using the Registration Form here, or you can call the FLTC office 585/658-9320 (Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri, 9am-2pm).

You can also Register On-Line anytime and pay with credit card via PayPal.

Registration will top off at 135 or with those received by April 5th.

Participants will be able to select their hiking pace:

  • Fast – 3 mph
  • Medium Fast – 2.5 mph
  • Medium -2 mph
  • Medium Slow – 1.5 mph
  • Slow – less than 1.5 mph.

If you have any questions, please contact the hike coordinator, Marty Ruszaj, at [email protected].

See you on the trail!