Limekiln Lake State Campground and Nature Trail

Limekiln Lake Campground is a state campground which first opened in 1963 on land that was purchased from the Gould Paper Company.  By 1964, all the present 271 campsites have been developed.

About an hour from Kayuta, we reached the campground by going on Route 28 just past the village of Inlet and turning on Limekiln Lake Road, turning right at the campground sign about 1 1/2 miles later.  Since we were only there for the day, we only paid $8 instead of the $20 camping fee.





On this July 1st, the campsites were starting to fill up, particularly the ones on the waterfront.  Each campsite had its own picnic table, fireplace and even a "bear locker" since bears do roam the area.

There was a sand beach and swimming area where we saw some canoes and rowboats for rent.  This looked like an ideal place to launch our kayak whenever we decide to go on the lake. Two and a half miles at its widest point, there's about 3 1/2 miles of potential paddling here.  But since this was only our first visit to this campground, we planned to just go hiking.

The Old Dam Nature Trail is an easy 1.6 mile loop with only a 44 feet elevation gain.  The trail starts beyond a yellow gate just beside and behind campsite #87, pass an open field and an easily visible sign.

About 1/4 mile in, the trail splits with a registry on the right fork.  After signing the registry, we continued our counter-clockwise route as suggested by cnyhiking. 





The trail was mostly shaded by tall maples, firs, spruces, white pine and hemlocks and bordered by thick shrubs. Limekiln Creek was occasionally visible on our left, which was later crossed by a bridge, the site of an old dam.

After a smaller second bridge, we saw a sign going to South Shore Rd or the Limekiln Swamp Ski Loop, neither one of which we were inclined to take.




 
Continuing on the nature trail for another 1.3miles, we reached the bridge below which is a fish barrier dam.  This is the end of the loop.  After signing out on the trail registry, we just retraced out steps back to our parking spot by campsite #87.

References:
1. DEC.NY
2. CNY Hiking
3. Trails.com
4. Quiet Kayaking in New York