Welcome to the Biking Adventures Publication-Discovering Beaver Meadow NY State Forest and Some Interesting History

The Road Less Travelled-Volume 34-Uncovering Some Interesting History Involving This Forest

Call For Writers

Welcome back. For those of you who follow my articles, you are familiar with and have submitted articles to my main publication, Gardening, Birding, and Outdoor Adventure. To date, it has 435 followers and at least 132 writers. I appreciate all of the quality articles that have been and continue to be submitted, including from Dennett, Kim Zuch, Randy Runtsch, Zuzanna Żak, K. Barrett, Anne Bonfert, LucianoSphere, Linda Ng, Jean Crawford Evans, 𝐆𝐫𝐫𝐥𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭, scientist & journalist, Robin James, Mark Tulin, Amethyst Qu, Simon Whaley, and Derek.○. If I missed you, please excuse me, there are many good writers that contribute. When I joined Medium in December 2020, I discovered that there were not many publications if any dedicated to these topics. There definitely was a need for the publication and I have been thrilled to have so many of you share your articles.

Two years ago, I also started the Biking Adventures publication. I thought this would be a good publication dedicated to just biking. This can include, mountain biking, road biking, e-bikes, bike racing, and anything at all related to bikes. So here’s a shout-out to my fellow bikers out there; I am sure others are interested in reading about your adventures. I know I am. I wrote a few articles for this publication in 2021, but since have not developed it. To get you started, here are my simple Submission Guidelines:

I look forward to your articles.

Beaver Meadow NY State Forest

On Saturday, September 16th, I set out to explore yet another NY State Forest. About a week ago, I wrote about my first visit to South Hill State Forest, also in Chenango County:

As I wrote in that story; I already know there is a lot of NY State land in my home county. Just how much I was not aware of. According to Google, there are 63,700 plus acres that make up 32 lands. Also, I wasn’t aware that Chenango County has the most public land in NY State outside of the Adirondack Park. I have been in quite a few of these areas but not nearly all of them.

As the name implies, this forest is located near the tiny town of Beaver Meadow, NY. It is best known as being a stop on the New York, Ontario, and Western Railroad in the late 1800s. It was known as the butter and cheese express. You can still see remnants of the rail bed as you drive along County Road 16.

An excerpt from the Crooked Lake Review:

In 1869–70 there was constructed a branch of the New York & Oswego Midland Railroad (now the New York, Ontario & Western Railroad). This road was completed late in the summer of 1870 and operated until the winter of 1878–9 when train service was abandoned and the rails removed in 1881–82. During this time Beaver Meadow became a bustling hamlet or village.

5,816 Acres to Explore

As the number of acres implies, it took me a little while to orient myself and find a good place to ride. I try to find areas where the gravel roads are good enough for riding and have at least some level areas. In this area of NY, it is challenging to find level roads as there are a lot of hills. I prefer a mix of gentle hills and flat areas.

For some reason, the roads in this forest are very rough as they used large stones to fill in wet areas, etc. I had to drive extremely slow in some areas to avoid wear on my vehicle suspension. Biking on those large stones would not be advisable; I could envision popping tires very quickly. I eventually found some smoother areas and parked so I could begin my ride.

I ended up riding 4 miles as I got the feel for the area. It was a beautiful day with sunny skies, a nice breeze, and low humidity. I love riding as Fall approaches and the leaves start to turn. I may return here in mid-October to catch the Fall colors.

Some Interesting History

As were most NY State forests, this was established in the early 1930s (abandoned farmland) and after funding dried up during the Great Depression, was managed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). I recently wrote an article regarding my discovery of a local CCC Camp that I biked to and explored.

According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) website, the Beaver Meadow State Forest was established in 1933 as the Chenango Experimental Forest. Many trees were planted in all the NY forests, however, experiments were conducted here to determine the effect of planting trees on abandoned farmland. Growth rates of different tree species were studied to determine the best trees to plant and water runoff was studied prior to and after planting trees.

Also studied was the effectiveness of various chemical treatments to kill unwanted hardwood trees. I found this interesting and possibly alarming. What chemicals did they use and are they still present in these woods?

There was also a small meteorology station and people came from Yale University to see the Chenango Experimental Forest.

You would never know it today, but a lot went on here long ago. Today we have a beautiful forest to enjoy for generations to come.

Until next time.

What biking stories do you have to share? I look forward to them.