Swamp Bear LbNA #28725

The Swamp Bear letterbox is planted in a rock wall less than a quarter of the way around a loop on the Yellow Trails in Bear Swamp State Forest. If you park in the southeast lot off the corner of Iowa and Bear Swamp Roads, the loop along blazed trails Y1, Y7, Y6, Y5, Y4, Y3, and Y2 back to the lot is about 4 miles long. The best way to travel this loop is on cross country skis The snow when Bear was planted was about 14 inches deep except where perfect ski tracks made this loop the place to be.
If you're hiking, or snowshoeing, or riding a bike or horse, please don't disturb the ski tracks!
You can pick up a trail map from a mail box at the parking lot, or find one online at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's website. There are 3,280 acres in the forest, with lots of different trails you might want to travel while you're there, but the Yellow Loop on the east side is where you'll see the Bear.
To find the Swamp Bear, take Y1 to Y7, at the fork skip Y8 and take Y6 to the right past a tree numbered 11. Go up, then down, then left and up, past tree number 12 and right, down, then up along a long gentle incline where Y6 stays very straight heading 15°NNE for a considerable way. Soon this incline crosses a big stone wall heading up west and down east. A big tree west of the trail by this wall has two Y6 DEC trail blaze disks nailed on its north and south sides. The Swamp Bear is on the south side of this stone wall about 5 yards down from the Y6 trail opposite a fat short stump on the north side and real close to a young triple-trunked tree on the south. A foot-long pointy rock sits on the Swamp Bear with a couple small flat rocks a few layers down from the top of the wall.
There's a real pretty view of the Grout Brook valley in Scott, south of Skaneateles Lake from this wall, but you can't see the lake itself until further north along Y6. A short bit further up Y6, where the trail levels just before a shallow dip, it crosses another stone wall, but this one has no stump 5 yards down from the trail. If you missed the other wall where Swamp Bear's planted, head back down and keep your eyes peeled.
Once you've crossed a small wooden bridge on Y6 you'll be able to see the south end of Skaneateles Lake, where three counties, Onondaga, Cortland, and Cayuga meet. Unless it's snowing too hard--this forest catches some great deep Lake Effect snows. Or unless the tree leaves block the view--we've never been here in summer.
If you like high spots, the highest point in Cayuga country is alongside trail Y9, elevation a bit above 1,860 feet, west of Ridge Rd.