Hammond Hill State Forest

Just a fifteen minute drive from Ithaca in the direction of Dryden, Hammond Hill offers 19 miles of multiple use trails that particularly good for XC skiing thanks to maintenance provided by Cayuga Nordic Ski Club, the Friends of Hammond Hill, the Dryden-Caroline Drifters Snowmobile Club, the Town of Dryden, the Finger Lakes Trail Conference, and the DEC.

Trails

There are a variety of trails suitable for beginning, intermediate, and advanced skiers based on slope and length. The trails descriptions (as provided by the DEC) are:

• Yellow Trails - total 5.6 miles in length.
  • Y1 - intermediate trail 1.9 miles long
  • Y2 - beginner trail .6 miles long
  • Y3 - intermediate trail .6 miles long
  • Y4 - intermediate trail 1.0 miles long
  • Y5 - advanced trail 1.3 miles long
  • Y6 - beginner trail .2 miles long
  • Y7 - beginner trail .5 miles long
  • Y8 - intermediate trail .4 miles long
• Blue trail - intermediate trail 1.4 miles long
• Red Trails - 1.7 miles in length.
  • R1 - advanced trail .6 miles long
  • R2 - advanced trail 1.1 miles long
• Green Trails are 1.7 miles in length.
  • G1 - advanced trail .8 miles long
  • G2 - intermediate trail .7 miles long
  • G3 - advanced trail .2 miles long
• Orange/Snowmobile - Trails are 5.6 miles in length. The trails are designated as a corridor snowmobile trail. However, other recreational activities allowed on the orange trails are hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding and some cross-country skiing.
• The Finger Lakes Hiking Trail (FLT) section on Hammond Hill is approximately 3.2 miles in length and signed with white blazes. Hiking is the primary use but skiing and snowshoeing is allowed during the winter.

DEC Publications

• HammondHillBrochure.pdf: DEC Brochure for Hammond Hill State Forest
• HammondHillTrailMap.pdf: Map of Hammond Hill Multiple Use Trails

Hammond Hill State Forest

-- DonBarry - 10 Feb 2010