Winter along the Creek...

Winter often produces magical formations of ice on tree limbs which hang into the creek. It is sometimes like the jewelry of mother nature along the banks.

Oatka Creek Park is aptly named for the creek passing through it on the north side of the park lands. The creek was originally named Allen's Creek after an early settler to this region. The creek passes through Scottsville and empties into the Genesee River. A part of the creek was once used for transport as a part of the Scottsville-Genesee River Canal.

The creek was also a power resource for manufacturing and was damed at many places too turn water wheels for running machinery. An obvious dam is still visible at what was once the Ebsary Gypsum processing plant, now Sabin Metal Corporation. A less obvious damn was within the present park grounds at Garbutt and just west of the bridge crossing the creek on Union Street.

Winter is a great time to see the many ruins of the old manufacturing operations which were once present here within the lands now called Oatka Creek Park.

Animal tracks in the Snow...

Every season of the year offers new prospects of discovery in Oatka Creek Park. Winter is a great time to observe the foot prints of the animal occupants of the place. It is a real treat to be the first one in the park after a fresh snowfall and find no human foot prints on certain trails but a myriad of other prints left by the wild inhabitants. I find it interesting when my dogs plug their noses deep into the holes left by passing white tail deer so they can get a better scent of what it might have been.

Remnants of the Past...

Winter is the best time to observe the remnants of the gypsum mining operations once present in the area which has become Oatka Creek Park. These ruins were some of the processing facilities of the Lycoming Calcinating Company near Garbutt.

The existence of this park can be largely credited to the fact that most of the land now in the park is tunneled with abandoned gypsum mines. This makes the area relatively unsuitable for commercial development but ideal as a nature park. Many of the sunken trenches and pits around the park are not from surface excavation alone but from the collapse of the underground tunnels where gypsum was mined.

Gypsum was formed when ancient oceans covered this region and deposited material in strata which at this site consist of two parallel layers. One layer is near creek level and the other is at a higher elevation. This is a unique geology for gypsum deposits.

Fall...a time for Magic in the Park...

Fall is not only a time when colors abound in the park but the weather adds its brush to the artwork as well.

Mother nature Dresses up the Park...

Mother nature dresses Oatka Creek Park in spectacular ways when fall arrives.

The Source of Little Acorns...

The mighty oak in fall dress...

Park Main Entrance Road...

The view as one enters Oatka Creek Park on Quaker Road.

A left turn at the yellow gate gets you to the park lodge which was originally the only significant development in the park.

The natural beauty of this park is the limited development consisting of the lodge and surrounding mowed lawn where picnicking activities, frisbee tossing, and other disorganized games are often played. This is what a real nature park is about...nothing scheduled and bussed in routinely but a great place to enjoy the natural surroundings with some limited amenities.

Other limited development in the park consists of some mowed trails in places where navigation would be difficult unless the mower made the occasional pass to limit growth.

The most beautiful trails are those which stay open strictly from human traffic which maintains their natural appearance and which often are not easily detected during the height of the growing season. Walking along some creek paths is like an experience in the jungle at times if one goes there in mid-August.