Spring is here and time for our annual e-newsletter to update our loyal followers on what's been happening on the Cayuga Lake Scenic Byway since last year AND, get you planning your 2022 adventure to spend time with us. We have lots of news to share so, we hope you will take the time to read the entire newsletter.
This year our all-volunteer, not-for-profit is celebrating 20 years bringing you programs to help make your trip to Cayuga Lake interesting, fun, and memorable. As we head into this year's main travel season, we are ever so thankful that we live in an area of wide-open spaces with lots of options to escape, relax, and refresh. We hope you choose Cayuga Lake as a vacation destination this year, whether for a week or two or for a weekend.
WHAT'S NEW
In 2021, since our last newsletter, we added three new programs to our lineup - Cayuga Lake Blueway Trail, Cayuga Lake Birding Trail and KIDS CAYUGA LAKE. Read on to learn more about the programs.
Paddling Cayuga Lake
On June 22, 2021, we launched the Cayuga Lake Blueway Trail, a planned paddlecraft trail to encourage an on-the-water experience of our beautiful, glacially-formed lake. We had a great turnout, on a June day that felt a bit more like early-April, including our guest speaker then Lt. Governor Hochul (now our governor) and many friends and supporters.
Living along any of the Finger Lakes, you know that an on-the-water experience is a treat. How, when, and where to safely and appropriately access the lakes can be a challenge for folks visiting the area. Thus, the Cayuga Lake Blueway Trail was born. This program was planned and implemented by our three county Planning offices - Cayuga, Tompkins and Seneca - with funding assistance from New York State's Local Waterfront Redevelopment Program. (To learn more about the Blueway Trail, click here to head to our website.)
Twelve public access sites around Cayuga Lake are the backbone of the trail. The sites feature informational kiosks and signs directing users to the launch area and signs visible from the water to let paddlers know where a safe landing site is available. Plans are in the works at Cass Park, in the city of Ithaca, to install an accessible put-in/take-out dock system that should be available in 2022. We will also continue to work with businesses and organizations who have facilities on the lakeshore to add more safe landing sites. Stay tuned and keep checking back to our website.
Lastly, we developed a Blueway Trail Pocket Guide and decal, both waterproof. The pocket guide lay's out 24 different excursions for paddlers to enjoy the lake. The decal shows support for our program and will be a memento of your paddling adventures. The guide and decal are for sale at outlets around the lake. Head to our SHOP page on the website to find the location nearest to you.
Birding the Bway
In concert with the Blueway Trail, project planners took the opportunity to create a Byway Birding Trail to share information about the birds that rely on the Cayuga Lake area for migration and nesting.
The 12 Blueway Trail launch sites are also perfect locations to bird watch throughout the year. A panel about the birds you can see at and around each site is installed on the Blueway Trail kiosk. Each panel illustrates 4 birds you should look for at the site during each of the four seasons of the year.
Over the course of this year, we will develop a Birding Check List for the trail so you can record your sightings. The list will be available on our website as a downloadable file. So, stay tuned!
2022 Virtual Step Challenge
As a not-for-profit, we continually struggle to find ways to raise money to support the bare necessities of the organization and continue to support and grow our programs. In October 2021, we introduced our first fundraising event, the Cayuga Lake Scenic Byway Virtual Step Challenge. The premise behind the event was to challenge folks to walk the equivalent of the 87 miles of the byway over a 30-day period, no matter where you lived. All steps that you took during the day, or night, counted.
Participating in the event was a BLAST! For those who participated, we soon found out who the highly competitive folks were and they raised the bar for all of us. At the end of the event, we cumulatively took 5,227,089 steps. Our top stepper, Leslie, blew us all out of the water with 500,191 steps. Our event organizers calculated that to walk the 87-mile byway you would need to take 184,000 steps, about 6,133 each day. So again, cumulatively we walked over 28 times around the byway!
Thank yous go to our sponsors Cayuga Health, Rasa Spa, and Visit Ithaca. Cayuga Health supplied the water bottles to keep our steppers hydrated. Rasa Spa donated funds for the Micky Roof, exclusively-designed charms awarded to the top 10 steppers. Visit Ithaca's VP of Tourism paid for the participant medals.
Our Events committee is hard at work planning the next step challenge and we will expand how you can accumulate steps by adding a variety of activities like paddling and bicycling. The event is being planned to happen over a 30-day period starting at the end of July. So, put a reminder in your calendar to check back in with us regularly on our Events page to find out more details and when to register. Better yet, if you are not yet following us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, head on over to the sites by clicking on the social media's name and get us on your "following" list.
Let's make this next challenge one to remember, bigger and better. Take up the challenge with co-workers or your family pod to make it even more fun and challenging. You never know who will show up as the most competitive stepper!
Events are Returning in 2022
As we start to return to some semblance of normal, festivals and outdoor music events you’ve enjoyed over the years are returning. Visit the following websites to check out what’s on tap for this season.
Tompkins County Tourism
https://www.visitithaca.com/
Cayuga County Tourism
https://www.tourcayuga.com/
Seneca County Tourism
https://www.discoverseneca.com/
Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance
https://www.fingerlakes.org/
