City of Rochester
News Release
(Monday, July 25, 2011) – There are still opportunities to participate in Tuesday MVP Nature Nights and Thursday Lower Gorge Explorer Hikes, both part of the City’s Flower City Looking Good series of activities. The Flower City Looking Good series offers opportunities to get fit while exploring Rochester’s neighborhoods and parks. All events begin at 6 p.m. and are free, except for the Aug. 16 guided canoe/kayak paddle.
The remaining Tuesday MVP Nature Nights are included below:
•July 26: Guided bike ride, Ontario Parkway Trail and Charlotte Neighborhood. Meet at the boat launch parking lot off Lake Avenue at the lakefront. Take a quick spin around the Port of Rochester and hear about the ambitious plans for the area. Ride the new Parkway trail through wetlands to Island Cottage Road. Return along Beach Avenue with great views of the lake and historic beachfront homes. Walk your bike along the “secret sidewalk,” a remnant of the trolley days.
•Aug. 2: Guided bike ride, Mount Hope Cemetery.
Meet at the Genesee Valley Park pool parking lot, 131 Elmwood Ave. Explore the oldest municipally maintained Victorian cemetery in the United States, dedicated in 1838. A slow, leisurely ride, in cooperation with the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery will visit many gravesites, including those of Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony.
•Aug. 9: Guided bike ride, Corn Hill Neighborhood.
Meet at the Genesee Valley Park pool parking lot, 131 Elmwood Ave. Bike on the Genesee Riverway Trail and explore the Corn Hill neighborhood, and view its historic collection of stately homes.
•Aug. 16: Guided canoe/kayak paddle
Meet at the Genesee Waterways Center, 149 Elmwood Ave. This tour takes paddlers from Genesee Valley Park south to the Genesee River’s convergence with the Erie Canal and on to Red Creek. See historic Olmsted landscape and bridges from the water. Explore the wilderness of Red Creek as it weaves its way through a Brighton neighborhood. Fee: $15 per person. Preregister before Aug. 5 by calling 428-6770.
•Aug. 23: Guided hike, Historic High Falls District.
Explore the vision of Garden Aerial and the Greentopia Festival, which will be held in High Falls Sept. 17 and 18. Meet at the west side of the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge.
The remaining Thursday Lower Gorge Explorer Series hikes are:
•July 28: Guided hike, Turning Point Park.
Meet at the Petten Street parking lot at the Genesee River. Petten Street runs east off of Lake Avenue just south of the O’Rorke Bridge.
•Aug. 4: Guided hike, cemeteries.
Meet at the entrance of Riverside Cemetery. Visit historic Riverside and Holy Sepulchre Cemeteries, including the grave of “Rattlesnake Pete.”
For more information on MVP Tuesday Nature Nights, Thursday Lower Gorge Explorer Hikes and the rest of the 2011 Flower City Looking Good series of activities and events, visit www.cityofrochester.gov/fclg.
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News Media: For more information, contact Michael Warren Thomas at 703-9237.