Northville-Placid Trail (Eastern shore of Long Lake)
GPS Coordinates: ( 43.976217161469, -74.39254760742 )Long Lake
The trailhead to the north section is on the northeast side of the Tarbell Hill Road, approximately 0.6 mile from Route 28N. For the birder, this section from Tarbell Hill to Caitlin Bay provides an excellent outing. A bird walk in these areas will take participants through a wide variety of habitats including boreal forest, marsh/bog, swamp, mixed forest, deciduous woods, and to the shoreline of Long Lake. Each section, north and south, is two miles, round trip. There is little elevation change on the south trail, but the northern trail dips 250 feet down to the shores of Long Lake. Southern Route: The walk through boreal wetlands takes you over raised walkways and is home to Black-backed Woodpeckers, Yellow-bellied Flycatchers and Boreal Chickadees. There is a "northern" feeling when walking through this area dominated by spruce, fir, tamarack and alders. The marsh/bog with a meandering brook is a particularly species-rich habitat. The second half of the trail moves through mixed forest where you may see Ruby-crowned Kinglets, nesting Northern Goshawks and up to 14 varieties of woodland warblers, including Yellow-rumped, Magnolia and Blackburnian. Northern Route: This section takes you through a mixed forest habitat, crossing a stream where you'll see Winter Wrens, Brown Creepers, and many of the wood warblers found on the southern route. As you approach the lake at Caitlin Bay, look for many species of waterfowl, Common Loons and Bald Eagles.
