Nature So Pretty, You'll Want to Puke Rainbows
By Karen Hor
Take a hike in the hills of Fabius, NY
1254 Highland Forest Rd. Box 31, Highland Park Road, Fabius, NY 13063 315.683.5550 highland@ongov.net
Last Friday, I decided to jump onto my bed and hide under my fleece blanket while weather outside was at a 63 degrees high. Naturally, I was watching the National Geographic Channel online (don’t judge me, you know you do it too) and stumbled upon the “Six Degrees Could Change The World” series.
Did you know that with five degrees of global warming, human civilization would slowly die out? Did you also know that I think the people working for Nat Geo are covert anarchists? I like anarchists, they would make good attorneys.
In any case, after I saw a prototype video of the ocean literally swallowing up the earth and the effects of deforestation, I brushed cookie crumbs off my stomach and licked my greasy Cheetos fingers and declared another day for exploration. Cue the highland forest in Fabius, New York, part of the Onandoga County Parks.
Forests look especially alluring during the fall when the leaves turn mustard yellow. Come winter, half of those trees become naked with nothing but dried bark. Do you remember as a kid, when fall came, you would run to your backyard and start stomping the living hell out of the leaves on the ground? Well, I don’t.
I grew up in the ghetto slums of New York City, completely made of concrete, so this is exciting for me (hence, the facination with Nat Geo). But that’s exactly what I ended up doing at the highland forest. It was an peaceful experience and everywhere I walked smelled of crisp raw mint; it was the smell of nature. I looked around and I felt like I was in a Snow White scene singing an annoying high-pitch song with cute birds and fluffy bunnies.
Tall trees fill the miles of year-round trails at highland forest. It’s the ideal setting for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing. There are marked loops of trails to choose from including the North Country National Scenic Trail, home to wildflowers, ferns, and wildlife.
Natural beauty at its finest.
There’s the Nordic ski facility and Skyline Lodge which offers ski and snowshoe rentals if you’re planning to go when snow falls. They also provide guided one-hour horse-back tours offered from April through November.
On winter weekends, they provide horse-drawn sleighs through the woods every thirty minutes from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. They even promoted to me a “Valentine’s in the Forest” signature special event—a romantic dinner with music and sleigh rides.
Stop by Fabius, New York, before you leave for Winter break, and get in touch with your inner Thoreau: bask in the solitude of the trees, and nothing but the sound of the wind. A word of advice: leave your phone and gadgets in the car (not that you’ll get much service anyway), and really inhale some good ol’ fresh air, before we pollute it all.
Karen Hor is a regular contributor to Nearby Nooks, updated Wednesdays.