Home > Recreation > Nature CentersNature Centers in the Finger LakesSpencer CrestSpencer Hill Rd.
LOCATIONSpencer Crest Nature Center is located on Spencer Hill in a rural area just south of the City of Corning in Steuben County. It is adjacent to the Corning Community College campus. HABITATThe 250-acre nature preserve offers a unique combination of habitats where two forest zones--an oak-hickory-hemlock forest and a beech-birch-maple forest--intersect. Two ponds--Amelia and Turtle--are connected by a stream.
INTERPRETATIVE CENTERJust off the parking lot is the interpretative center with its educational displays. A modern structure, the building is set into the hillside and blends in well with the surrounding woods. WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBILITYThe interpretive center is accessible by wheelchair via a long, wooden ramp. Just off the center's front entrance is the Sensitivity Trail, a looping boardwalk through a lovely woods full of native wildflowers and ferns that leads to the Rockwell Pavilion where there are a number of picnic tables.
ACTIVITIESDuring the spring, summer, and fall hiking and jogging are permitted on the seven miles of trail, which link a tower, a lean-to, a milk house, a pavilion, a gazebo, and three meadows. The trails are generally dry and well defined. Several trails lead onto the Corning Community College campus. Dogs are not permitted on campus, but they are permitted on the nature center property when leashed.
In winter, snowshoeing and cross-county skiing make good use of the snow. A slope near the interpretative center provides sledding and Amelia Pond provides ice for skating.
NEARBY PLACES OF INTERESTRockwell Museum of Western Art
Updated 30 July 2010
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