Winona State Forest

The Winona State Forest is located on the boundary of southern Jefferson County and northern Oswego County. It is east of interstate #81, west of Littlejohn Wildlife Management Area and is on the western edge of the Tug Hill Plateau.

This 9,233-acre state forest offers many recreational opportunities, including: hiking, skiing, mountain biking, hunting, fishing, trapping, dog sledding, birdwatching and horseback riding. The unit contains 21.8 miles of cross-country ski trails, 8.7 miles of snowmobile trails (some designated New York State Snowmobile Corridor Trails), 9.9 miles forest roads, and 5 parking lots.

This reforestation land was once farmland, and during the late 1930’s and 1940’s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) planted evergreen trees, built roads, ponds, and buildings on this land. As the trees have grown to maturity, foresters have marked many stands for wood products, including red pine poles going overseas, pulpwood to local paper mills, black cherry to Harden Furniture and chips for energy.

Around 1980, DEC staff and local cross country skiing enthusiasts met to discuss a trail system, including one for cross country ski racing. This was logical since the Tug Hill Plateau has the biggest snowfall east of the Rockies and has reliable snow cover throughout the winter. The trails became known as the Tug Hill Tourathon Trails. Each year since then, new trails have been added. Much volunteer work went into this project and DEC Operations crews, with their heavy equipment and manpower, has made these trails what they are today.

Over the past years, many different groups have enjoyed the use of these trails, but this has made for some difficulty in how to designate which trails would be used and for what purpose. The Western Edge Recreational Association was developed around 1995 to bring together all the users: skiers, snowmobilers, dog sledders, horse owners, hunters, bikers, and orienteering people.

With the melding of ideas, resources and manpower, Winona State Forest has become one of New York State’s best venues for recreation, and at the same time, provides valuable timber resources.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/8072.html
http://www.winonaforest.com/

Winona Recreation Area

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The Winona Recreation Area, aka the Winona and Jefferson State Forests has a series of informal campsites throughout it’s miles and truck trails, that are also used by ATVs and snowmobiles based on the time of the year. Known for the large amount of snow the area gets, it’s one of the most vast state parcels in the Tug Hill Plateau.

In the past I’ve camped on an undesignated site with a firepit on Bargby Road. There are other sites around, but I don’t know the area that well, and the sites ar not listed online. You might consider contacting the local Forest Ranger about getting a permit and some other ideas.

Be careful driving around here, as many of the truck trails are very rough and muddy, and you will be sharing them with ATVs in the summer season. They are real fun if you want to get some mud on your pickup truck. It’s by far one of the best places to find rough and muddy state truck trails in NY State, and tons of snow in the winter. I camped there in April 2004 (no snow), but it was cold. — Andy

“Over the past years, many different groups have enjoyed the use of these trails, but this has made for some difficulty in how to designate which trails would be used and for what purpose. The Western Edge Recreational Association was developed around 1995 to bring together all the users: skiers, snowmobilers, dog sledders, horse owners, hunters, bikers, and orienteering people.”

“With the melding of ideas, resources and manpower, Winona State Forest has become one of New York State’s best venues for recreation, and at the same time, provides valuable timber resources.”

“In 2005, DEC began developing a unit management plan (UMP) for Winona State Forest. A UMP must be completed before significant new recreational facilities, such as trails, camping sites, and parking areas can be constructed. The plans involve an extensive analysis of the natural features of an area and the ability of the land to accommodate public use. The DEC has primary responsibility for developing management plans for the State-owned lands. Draft plans are widely distributed for public comment and review prior to being finalized by DEC.”

— NYSDEC Winona State Forest.

“The Winona Forest Recreation Association (WFRA) maintains approximately 70 miles of trails in the Winona Forest and Jefferson County Forest Preserve. Both are located in the Tug Hill region of New York State. WFRA, which began as the Tug Hill Ski Club, has reorganized as the Winona Forest Recreation Association in order to include all user groups of the forest. WFRA membership consists of skiers, snowmobilers, atv riders, equestrians, mushers,snowshoers, bikers, hikers and many other outdoor sports enthusiasts. We’re not just an ordinary club!

“Winona Forest is one of the snowiest places east of the Rockies with an average snow fall of 250 inches per year! In winter, the prevailing westerly winds move cold winter air over the warm water of Lake Ontario producing massive lake effect snow falls on the Winona Forest in the Tug Hill area.”

— Winona Forest Recreation Association.

Barby Road 2
Tucker Road 1

Summer afternoon


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