Lime Hollow Center for Environment and Culture

Cortland, Cortland County

This preserve offers 12 miles of easily accessible and well maintained walking trails over gentle and varied terrain as well as a rich diversity of habitats, boasting 200 species of birds and a variety of plants and other wildlife. During the spring, visitors will hear spring peepers and wood frogs along the abandoned Lehigh Valley Railroad right-of-way. The summer months offer the chance to watch big brown bats streaming out of a 1890s barn during their nighttime feeding routine. On a crisp winter night, join a Lime Hollow naturalist on snowshoes and listen for great horned, barred and screech owls.

Wildlife to Watch

• Beaver, Muskrat
• Little Brown Bat, Big Brown Bat
• Eastern Coyote, Gray Fox, Red Fox, Bobcat
• Fisher, Mink, Long-tailed Weasel, Short-tailed Weasel
• Eastern Chipmunk, Gray and Red Squirrels, Northern Flying Squirrel, Woodchuck, Cottontail Rabbit
• Raccoon, Striped Skunk, and Opossum
• White-tailed Deer
• Painted Turtle, Common Snapping Turtle, and Wood Turtle
• Bullfrog, Gray Tree Frog, Pickerel Frog, Spring Peeper, Wood Frog, Leopard Frog, Toad
• Eastern (Red-Spotted) Newt, Jefferson Salamander, Blue Spotted Salamander, Alleghany Dusky Salamander, Northern Spring Salamander
• Northern Brown Snake, Common Garter Snake, Eastern Milk Snake, Northern Water Snake, Smooth Green Snake, Northern Red Bellied Snake, Northern Ringneck Snake

Where to Watch

• Mature mixed northern hardwood forests, shrublands, grasslands
• Vernal (spring) ponds, beaver ponds, and streams
• Classic kettlehole bog, fens, and marl ponds
• Wetland viewing platforms
• Waterfowl blind

Recreational Opportunities

• 12 miles of hiking trails, including Kroot Art Trail, Interpretive Trail at Chicago Bog, and Lehigh Valley Trail (dogs permitted on Gracie Road section)
• Birdwatching
• Visitor Center with bird sanctuary viewing room
• Wheelchair accessible trail at Visitor Center
• Geocaching
• Snowmobiling, snowshoeing and ungroomed trails for cross-country skiing (ski and snowshoe rentals available)
• Environmental summer day camp and year-round nature programming
• Guided walks with naturalist

Accessible Features

This site has accessible features that include a Visitor Center and nearby viewing platform accessible for persons with disabilities overlooking Gracie Pond. Trail-Ready wheelchair is available at the Visitor Center. A full list of DEC's accessible recreation destinations is available on the DEC website.

Size

Nearly 430 acres

Closest Town

Cortland

Directions

See Google Maps and enter your address for step by step directions to Lime Hollow Center for Environment and Culture (This link will open a page outside of the DEC website. Hold "Shift" down while clicking on the link to open it in a new window)

Contact Information

Address: 338 McLean Road, Cortland, NY 13045.
Phone: 607-662-4632
Website: Lime Hollow Center for Environment and Culture (This link leaves the DEC website)

Photo credits: Jim Clayton, Chris Sanford