Land Trust installs new trails and parking lot at Enfield forest

In Enfield, Finger Lakes Land Trust recently opened a new trail where hikers can enjoy a walk through open fields and a forest of hickories and sugar maples.

“The Finger Lakes Land Trust continues to partner with other conservation groups to add to our rich local natural landscape,” said Cayuga Trails Club President Polley McClure in a recent FLLT press release.

Over the last several years, The Finger Lakes Land Trust, in partnership with New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation and with the help of volunteers, installed trails on the land that connect to the Finger Lakes Trails. The 140-acre parcel is adjacent to Robert H. Treman State Park in the town of Enfield and now has full public access with a trailhead and parking lot on Stonehouse Road in Enfield.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held last month to celebrate the opening of the property, known as Margaret’s Woods.

“Many of the other Finger Lakes Trail areas are quite steep,” Andrew Zepp, President of the FLLT, told Tompkins Weekly. “It’s kind of nice that it’s pretty gentle terrain.”

There is a loop over just over one mile, plus a three-tenths-of-a-mile connector trail that leads to the next Finger Lakes trail.  

“It’s an easy walk, with beautiful, mature woods,” Zepp said.

Preserving this land located next to Treman State Park creates a significant block of protected wildlife habitat in an area that is seeing an increase in development, he added.

Most of the property is in the watershed of Enfield Creek. “Many people enjoy that kind of classic swimming area like we have at Treman, and that really depends on the water quality upstream, so that protects that area,” he said.

The addition of these acres also supports the state’s goal to conserve 30 percent of its lands and waters by 2030, in line with the global 30×30 initiative to protect the world’s lands and waters.

The parcel was donated to the FLLT in 2022 by the late Margaret Bald, a Tompkins County resident whose family had owned the property since 1950. She grew up on the land in a 200-year-old fieldstone house, which was protected through a partnership with Historic Ithaca.

“We worked with Historic Ithaca to create a legal agreement that would allow people to live in the house and maintain its historic character,” Zepp said. The house and roughly five acres of surrounding land were sold to buyers who were subject to this agreement to preserve it.

“It’s a beautiful structure in a beautiful spot,” Zepp said.

To honor Bald’s wishes for the land to be conserved, the FLLT will donate the property to the New York State Office of Parks Recreation & Historic Preservation as an addition to Robert H. Treman State Park. 

The gift follows a tradition of philanthropy started by Treman, who donated hundreds of acres to establish the park, originally known as Enfield Glen State Park. This year marks the centennial of the establishment of New York State Parks as a statewide system and the 100th anniversary of the opening of Robert H. Treman State Park.

“As we continue celebrating the Centennial of the state park system, we are thrilled to see this future expansion of Robert H. Treman State Park,” State Parks Commissioner Pro Tempore Randy Simons said in a recent press release. “In the philanthropic spirit of the Treman Family, we are grateful for the generosity of Margaret Bald and her family and to the Finger Lakes Land Trust for their continued partnership and conservation efforts so that future generations can continue to benefit from these natural resources and recreational opportunities.”

For close to 30 years, local forester Mike DeMunn, who was a friend of Bald’s, was the caretaker and forest manager of her woodlands. “These woods are very special to me, and I put so much care into the health of the trees,” DeMunn said. “Now I can rest easy that they will remain into old age. I’m so thankful that it will be protected.”