Aug. 17 - Chimney Bluffs State Park

Wolcott, NY 

"Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." -John Muir 

On Saturday we finally got a nice day to explore and hike at Chimney Bluffs State Park. High water in Lake Ontario this past spring made hiking along the beach impossible, but today we were able to hike the beach and the Bluff Trail. We started with the beach and I was less than impressed...I guess my expectations were set too high. It was nice and I was glad we had come, but it just seemed like a rocky beach with cliffs that weren't too impressive...at least from the water. Well, all that changed as soon as we hiked to the top of the cliffs...the cliff definitely seemed higher and VERY impressive from the rim where we could have easily fallen off. The Bluff Trail gave us a wonderful view of Lake Ontario and an amazing look at the power of nature. 

Chimney Bluffs State Park is a beautiful state park situated on the southern shore of Lake Ontario and east of Sodus Bay. The towering mud cliffs of the park, which drape down to a vibrant pebble beach, easily has the most beautiful vista overlooking the lake. There are four miles of hiking trails which traverse the park, but the most popular is the Bluff Trail, which leads hikers right to the edge of the cliffs. Smugglers used this area as a landing point while transporting liquor from Canada during Prohibition.

History:
The Great Lakes were once the valleys of a massive river system that drained into the Atlantic Ocean. Repeated periods of glaciations gouged out the valley, creating large basins that soon filled with the melted ice water of the receding ice.

The bluffs were formed by a glacial drumlin, or pile of ground up mud, sand, and stones pushed along by the glacier as it scoured the land. Over time, Lake Ontario grew and began eroding away at the northern end of the drumlin, exposing the cliffs. Wind, rain and snow melt-water continue to eat away at the cliffs, reshaping the bluffs and providing an ever changing dynamic landscape that changes from year to year. The average erosion of bluffs is one to five feet per year.

Pictures taken along our beach walk

Some of the pinnacles and cliffs rise up to 150 feet above the lake shore.

Water from Lake Ontario has carved holes in the base of the bluffs.

The beach along the base of the bluffs is covered in rounded stones from all over Canada and the Great Lakes region, ground and polished by glaciers and deposited over thousands of years. 

The mud at the base of the bluffs and along the beach looked like chocolate frosting.

Views from the cliff trail...the park was much more impressive from this advantage point.

You can see where the mud from the bluffs is washing into the lake in this picture.

Park of the cliff trail runs right next to the cliff...great views, but a little scary.

Trail Map - We hiked about two miles along the beach and on the bluff trail.