Skaneateles Conservation Area — Attraction in Town of Skaneateles

As a dog enthusiast & dog owner I cannot stress this enough: Dogs allowed on leash or UNDER VOICE CONTROL. If you don't understand the concept of voice control then please have your dog on leash. Everyone should be able to enjoy this area but alot of uneducated dog owners seem to use this place as a free for all dog park. Barely any of the dogs have recall and will charge other dogs with their owners no where in sight. The owners try to justify this by saying "oh it's ok, they're friendly!" Well it's not ok, it's rude. Dog owners: please be mindful that some hikers, fishers and dog walkers DO NOT want to meet your dog. Please be considerate of others and call your dog to you if others are passing by. And pick up after your pets! The poop out here is unreal. Otherwise, this is such a beautiful and spread out area with lots to see! Make sure you take a picture of the trail map at the entrance- i didn't see any maps along the way with "you are here". Walk the extra mile to get away from the heavily trafficked trails and you'll find some...

This place is really beautiful and a great place to have a quick hike or picnic. The dog owners seem to universally love this place. However, the majority of the dog owners are super disrespectful to everyone else in the park. The dogs will jump into the pond right on top of you fishing, jump all over you wet and muddy, or even grab a sandwich out of a kids hand. The dog owners of course think this is adorable! That is if they are even close enough to see or are actually watching their dog. They also think everyone else wants to hear them scream their dogs name at the top of their lungs every 30 seconds. That being said, I've seen respectful dogs and dog owners here, and I've also been a dog owner. If my dog can't behave, I don't allow it. I don't have the right to ruin everyone else's experience anywhere and neither do they.

If you come on a quiet day this place can be...

This is a nice place for a relaxed walk. We went on a Wednesday around 4:45 and saw many people walking their dogs back to their vehicles. Most of the dogs were off leash and trained enough to not really care about anyone else. An untrained, unruly or overly hyper dog probably wouldn't do too good here (by that I mean their owners wouldn't do too good). The trails are clearly marked at the beginning and I would recommend taking a picture of the map since there are a lot of intersections. Parts of the Beaver trail are very steep and can be muddy, so know the risks (i was wearing flip flops and decided that next time it's full shoes or boots ). We saw a good variety of birds. Bugs are coming out so prepare for that too. Overall it's a lovely place and I look forward to walking each trail and maybe some connecting trails to other parts of the...