As we begin to adjust to the shortened days of autumn and the cozy few daylight hours, we savor these precious few golden hours and celebrate the few short weeks of vibrant foliage, serene lakeshores, and a network of trails that weave through scenic landscapes. Buffalo offers its citizens a remarkable opportunity to immerse themselves in the beauty of the season. From the winding roads of Chestnut Ridge to the tranquil paths of Delaware Park, the city and its surroundings boast a diverse array of outdoor experiences.
Hiking, or even a simple walk through the woods, is a powerful prescription for both physical and mental well-being. From strengthening cardiovascular health to reducing stress levels, the rewards of hitting the trails are boundless.
Project Best Life connected with Michael Sawyer from Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy and Kate Hilliman, from the Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry, to see how hitting the trail this autumn can help folks truly live their best lives.
Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy
The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and maintaining Buffalo’s historic Olmsted Park System, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The system includes popular urban green spaces like Cazenovia Park, Delaware Park, Front Park, Martin Luther King, Jr., Park, Riverside Park and South Park, and is used by over a million people annually for recreation and relaxation.
Michael Sawyer, forestry manager with the Olmsted Parks Conservancy works within the day-to-day operations of the parks in order to mitigate tree hazards. His passion for green spaces started well before his employment. “A lot of where our careers or jobs started was kind of like an intimate personal connection with the parks and outdoor spaces … before I even started working for the Conservancy close to six years ago, I found myself in Rumsey Woods section of Delaware Park, quite frequently. Just getting in touch with nature, feeling like I was, you know, actually escaping the city, but still very, very much within its bounds.”
Sawyer recommended a place right in the city of Buffalo for those who want to get out and experience nature. “One of the best places for a fall hike, in my opinion, would be the Rumsey Woods section of Delaware Park. It’s a wooded area with great species diversity, so it offers a lot of different color palettes and different textures that trees have to offer. [It is] just a really interesting area to walk around and kind of get lost in nature.”
As to the benefits of Fall Hikes, Sawyer shared “There are a lot of scientific studies that go to support some of the ecological and health benefits of nature and parks within an urban landscape. But we don’t even need to read those studies to just go out and feel those effects….the reduced cortisol levels and stress that you feel just by simply walking through nature for 10 to 15 minutes. I think it’s a very powerful effect that all of us can kind of relate to if you’ve ever had the opportunity to do that.”
The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy has a fantastic website that lists all of their parks, and is available here.
Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry
The Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry is a government agency responsible for overseeing parks, recreational facilities, and forestry initiatives in Erie County, New York. Its primary mission is to provide accessible and well-maintained public spaces for the community’s recreational use and to preserve natural resources.
“We have Erie County parks within the city limits, which some people actually don’t know. They’re smaller pocket parks, we call them habitat parks, and many of them are located along the Niagara River as well as the Buffalo River,” shared Kate Hilliman, deputy Commissioner of recreation for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry. “Those green spaces provide outdoor, really passive recreation, and most of those spaces, for city residents, for all Erie County residents, but certainly for city residents, are accessible by public transportation or even by walking. And those are green spaces that provide respite. They provide opportunities for beautiful overlooks, particularly of the water … and also provide places to play, which is really important as well.”
The Erie County Park system has a wide variety of park land, hiking trails, and green spaces, for those in the city, and for those based in other parts of Erie County. “We have parks in more urban settings like Ellicott Creek Park, which is a little flatter [and] more open along Ellicott Creek, which provides a lot of active recreation as well as passive [recreation]. But then we have more rugged park lands like Franklin Golf Park, down in Eden. That’s where you can really, really get out into the woods… So really something for everyone… a lot of opportunities to get outdoors and really get those mental and physical benefits from being in green space.”
When asked for a must visit hike in the system, Hilliman shared a favorite. “It’s not really a secret anymore, but one that really has to be on your must-see list is The Eternal Flame. For the thousands and thousands of people that come every season, there’s still thousands more who’ve never been, and one of the reasons why I want to bring it up now is because, in partnership with the Chestnut Ridge Conservancy, we just completed a project that installed stairs down to the gorge and really increases accessibility and safety down towards the flame and along the Flame Trail… We really needed to address some safety concerns, but it’s much easier to get down there now it never gets old.”
Hilliman believes in the power of nature and in the importance of visiting green spaces. “Being outdoors is a huge benefit to anybody, even if it’s just walking around your block, and the health benefits of getting out into our forests, into our forest lots, and into our parks cannot be overstated. Just being in the outdoors in the over 10,000 acres of Erie County Parks helps you to live your best life because it’s just it’s going increase your quality of life, day-to-day.”
To find out more information about Erie County Parks, visit their website, and check out the park locator app.
This series is sponsored by Project Best Life. Buffalo Rising and Project Best Life have teamed up to produce a series on wellness inspiration and advice to direct readers to the people, places, and experiences in Buffalo and beyond that will help them fulfill their health, nutrition, and wellness goals. For more information on how you can live your best life, subscribe to the Project Best Life newsletter.
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