Carlton Hill

Rating

Fall	Winter
Late Spring	Summer

Site history/background

Carlton Hill

The Carlton Hill Multiple Use Area (MUA) area is state owned land (2,580 acres of upland and wetland habitat with scenic vistas) that has interesting breeders. This is a seasonal (dirt) road for most of the duration. Much of the land along Bank Road for the next 4.6 miles is public land.

Warnings

If traveling by foot in the DEC lands, be forewarned that the area is public hunting grounds and care should be taken in the hunting seasons, especially the May Wild Turkey season and Nov/Dec Deer hunting season. Being a seasonal road, it is generally impassable after the first decent snowfall until late March or even until mid-April.

Best Birding

Excellent in Summer for a variety of breeding birds. In the two NYS Breeding Bird Atlas blocks encompasing the area, over 100 species of birds have been recorded breeding.

Regular Specialties

Grasshopper Sparrow, Acadian Flycatcher, Louisiana Waterthrush, YB Sapsucker, Hermit Thrush, Purple Finch, Ruffed Grouse, Wild Turkey, Red-breasted Nuthatch and Blue-headed Vireo are regular.

Up to fifteen species of breeding warblers are possible including Louisiana Waterthrush, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Hooded, Magnolia, Canada, Blue-winged, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Myrtle (Yellow-rumped), Mourning and Black-and-white Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, and Ovenbird. Flycatchers include Acadian Flycatcher along rocky streambeds with a mature forest canopy, among the abundant Alder Flycatcher, commoner E. Wood-Pewees, E. Phoebe and Great Crested Flycatchers. YB Sapsucker is likely the commonest breeding woodpecker and several Pileated can be found. Broad-winged and Red-shouldered Hawk have be found as well as Sharp-shinned Hawk, N Harrier. American Kestrel and Red-tailed Hawk are likely. Five species of owl have been recorded in breeding season. Wood Thrush, Veery, and Hermit Thrush are often heard singing. Many commoner species such as GC Kinglets, chickadees and juncos are found.

Noteworthy Records

Common Raven has been confirmed breeding . The possibility of Henslow's Sparrow exists. Immature Bald Eagle has been seen on a number of occasions. Rough-legged Hawk and N. Harrier have been found wintering nearby along Kingsley Road.

Areas of interest

Travel up Bank Road. At the first apex, stop the car and listen. Local teenagers call this the "Top of the World". This is a scenic vantage point to view the lake plains to the north, especially at night and during the aurora borealis. Grassland birds can be found here. Am Woodcock is abundant from late-March to June at dawn and dusk. Bobolinks and Savannah Sparrows are common. Alder Flycatchers, Eastern Towhee and Indigo Bunting are abundant for the length of the road. Common Raven frequented the pine stand to the west of the apex in 2001 and raptors are often see soaring from here.

Stop at the bottom of this next valley at a fast moving stream. Walk east along this stream on the south side of the stream. Acadian Flycatcher, YB Sapsucker, Louisiana Waterthrush, Blue-headed Vireo and Hermit Thrush have been recorded on a regular basis. Black-throated Green and Ovenbird is often heard here.

Heading uphill, Yellow, Common Yellowthroat, Blue-winged and Chestnut-sided Warblers are regularly recorded. Cresting the next hill, a open scrub area exists. Grasshopper Sparrow has been found here. Alder Fly, Am Woodcock and Towhee are abundant here.

Continue south to Casslebury Road. It is an unlabelled dead-end dirt road (on the DeLorme atlas, and has no roadsign), heading west. At the crest of the hill, Grasshopper and Henslow's Sparrows have been recorded in the past few years along Bank Road, although Henslow's is sporadic. Check the bottom of the hill for these sparrows and plenty of Bobolinks as well. At the end of Casslebury Road is a pond which may hold a heron, or migrant ducks. A parking lot and foot trails (unmarked and unexplored) are here. Return back to Bank Road and continue south.

About a quarter mile from Casslebury is a parking lot. Park here for a productive, but moderately difficult hike in the Dale Gulf . At the west end of the lot, a dirt road heads out and soon forks. Taking the left fork, you soon run into a stand of pines (listen for BW Warbler, Br Thrasher, Gr Catbird, Balt Oriole, Cedar Waxwing and Myrtle Warbler). Make your way thru the pines, and downhill to the stream (maybe 50 yards past the trees). Cross the stream and you'll find a foot trail on the west side of this stream. Walk downstream through the maple woods, interspersed with Hemlock. The trail continues 1/2 to 3/4 mile as this stream dumps into a bigger stream and forms the Dale Gulf (be careful not to get too close to the edge - it is a long way down). Along the way, listen for Wood Thrush, Ovenbird, Hooded Warbler, Cmn Yellowthroat, BT Green, and Am Redstart, RE Vireo. Specialties along the way include Louisianna Waterthrush - about every 200-300 yards along the streambed; Blackburnian near where the streams meet, and the potential for Canada and Black-n-White Warbler in the deeper gorge. Listen for drumming Ruffed Grouse and the common YB Sapsucker. Occasionally Pileated drums or cackles. The return trip is via the same route; or one can walk out into the field, uphill to Casslebury, past some pines with Purple Finch and Yellow and Magnolia Warblers.

The road becomes paved (and non-seasonal) at Moose Road. Continue south to the Fox Road intersection. The southeast corner has a pond which holds ducks and geese, including Wood Ducks and Hooded Merganser and possibly Pied-billed Grebe in breeding season.

Continue south. After the road becomes seasonal again, a parking area is on the west side of the road. Park here, cross the road to the small lot and walk east into the field. A beaver pond is back here. Wood Ducks and Hooded Merganser nest here. Barred Owl can be heard here in the evenings. The back side of the pond is a wooded swamp that might hold interesting birds. Check the scrub from here to the end of Bank Road for Mourning Warbler. The pines to the east at the intersection of Kelly Road have Ovenbirds, and often GC Kinglets, RB Nuthatches, and Blackburnian Warbler.

Turn left (east) and drive uphill on Kelly Road. Stop where it looks interesting looking for warblers and what-not. At the end of Kelly Road, the hill flattens out and farm fields are present. Listen and watch for Horned Lark and Vesper Sparrow. The pond to the north is Jenkins Pond. This pond attracts decent numbers and variety of migrant ducks.

This web site only describes a few of the places explored at Carlton Hill, but much more has been untraveled and unexplored. Turning left onto Kingsley Road, and rounding a few bends, one sees a NYS interest marker stating that you are 1612 feet above sea level. This spot provides a commanding and very scenic view of the Wyoming Valley below. It is a good vantage point in which to hear owls chorusing in the evening.

Drive west and return to Dale Road. After driving through Dale, NY (home of NYS's smallest Post Office), a few spots on the east side of the road offer access points into the Carlton Hill WMA. These areas are unexplored, but may offer a different variety.

Another unexplored area of Carlton Hill WMA lies on West Middlebury Road, just 0.4 miles east of Bank Rd. Park at the bottom of the gully and walk upstream into the woods.

Directions

This is located in the middle of no-where. It is located on the Delorme NYS Atlas and Gazetteer on page 58, block B1.

View a map (33 KB) from Alexander to the foot of Bank Road.

From Buffalo, take US Route 20 (Broadway) east to NYS Route 98, which is the town of Alexander. Follow Alexander directions below.

From Rochester, take I-390 south to US Route 20 (Avon exit 10). Travel west about 30-35 minutes on US Route 20 to NYS Route 98, which is the town of Alexander. Alternatively, take I-490 west to Bergen (exit 2). Drive south on NYS Route 33 to Batavia to NYS Route 98. Travel NYS Route 98 south to US Route 20, which is the town of Alexander. Follow Alexander directions below.

From Alexander at the intersection of US Route 20 and NY Route 98 (village of Alexander), travel east on US Route 20 about 3.2 miles. Turn right (south) onto Molassis Hill Road. Travel uphill about 2.8 miles until the first stop sign. Welcome to the "thriving metropolis" of Vernal Corners. Turn left (east) onto Capwell Road. (The cemetery on the right is sometimes fenced in with sheep to keep the grass at bay). Be careful going down the hill into the Dale Valley and proceed !!! VERY SLOWLY !!! over the railroad tracks on the bottom, as it is a real car breaker even at moderate (< 15 mph) speeds! Welcome to the "thriving metropolis" of Belknap Crossing. Continue east for another 0.8 mile past the "thriving metropolis" of West Middlebury (which sports a paper mache giraffe foraging in a tree at the scenic church). As the road starts to climb again past the church, the road on the right is Bank Road. Turn right onto Bank Road.

Nearby Birding

Several sites are nearby in Wyoming County, including Nature Conservancy's Gouinlocks' Pond, and the Attica Reservoir. Batavia WWTP is only 20 minutes away.

Genesee Country Park is just a few minutes away to the north. Early leaders of Genesee County government had (to borrow from an old cliche) the foresight to see both the forest and the trees. Genesee County Park and Forest was established in 1915 and was the state's first officially designated county forest. It was started as a way to generate firewood and income for the old County Home (now "Carriage Village") at the corner of Bethany Center and Raymond roads. The County Forest was established in 1915 when 31,000 trees were planted on 28 acres. In the 15 year period between 1920 and 1935, another 169,000 trees were planted. Most of the pines and hardwoods in the park date back to the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s. The state furnished the trees. Most of them were planted by workers from the Civilian Conservation Corps. Pines were the seedlings of choice because they grew quickly and would kill off undergrowth. They pines are not native to this area, but were planted because they'll grow on anything and grow a lot faster. More parcels of land and more trees were added over the years. Hardwoods such as maple, ash, beech and cherry are the park's native tree species. When the county thinned out some of its pine plantations in the forest in the 1960s, hardwoods naturally regenerated. The park is still overpopulated with mature pine trees that are low in timber value. They also create a sterile environment on the forest floor that does not provide good habitat for wildlife. Genesee County Park became an official entity in 1971, but was first proposed in 1949. The County Park and Forest now comprises 440 acres.
- Historical information obtained from a Genesee Area Genealogists' newsletter and information within the interpretation center

The county park remains a well-maintained, reforested quiet and little-known park offering many well-marked trails. It has a modern interpretive center (opened in 1998), with restrooms. It is open year-round and has many seasonal activities. Although not very extravagant (bird-wise), it is quite peaceful and pleasant. A large variety of habitat exists. Several stands of a variety of conifers exist. and a few stands of tall hardwoods exist.

To reach Genesee Country Park from the north end of Bank Road, turn east (right) onto West Middlebury Road. Travel 0.75 miles to Alwardt Road. Turn left (north) and drive 1.3 miles to the west entrance of the park (Memory Lane). The interpretive center is just inside the park boundaries on Memory Lane.

Facilities

None. Restrooms, as well as a quick meal, might be found in restaurants or gas stations in Attica, Alexander, Wyoming or Warsaw.

This page was last updated on 19 May 2002.