Genesee County High Point Trip Report

On Wyoming County line 0.3 mile east of Molasses Hill Road (1,470+ ft)

Date: October 28, 2000
Author: Dan Case

From Thruway Exit 48 take NY 98 south through Batavia (watch the signs after you get to the intersection with the Dunkin' Donuts and the bridge and all the other state highways, as the highway takes a sharp left immediately afterwards) and then towards Attica.

It seems from the maps that it might be possibly to take a back road shortcut to US 20. However, what DeLorme lists as Dunn-Gillooly Road seems to now be known as Peagiver Road, so I just had to follow 98 to the 20 overpass north of Alexander.

From there you take 20 east to the four-way intersection with West Bethany and Molasses Hill roads. There are absolutely no buildings here, and nothing to make it stand out other than the street signs and the signs indicating the Alexander-Bethany town line.

But when you turn right to go south on Molasses Hill, it's obvious you're headed the right way. Keep going uphill gently past the railroad tracks to Bethany Hills Golf Club on the left. Just past it is the Wyoming County line, marked by a Middlebury town line sign and the usual change in pavement.

I strolled west through the overgrown field, which bears no sign of being the driving range it was merely two years ago.

I was able to find some deer paths running roughly parallel most of the way along the hedgerow that marks the county line. You'll appreciate them as it is about 0.3 miles to the obvious high ground.

Once there, you can find a short, better path to the old fence posts on the county line. Walk along them for about fifty feet around here to be sure of touching highest spot.

It might make this easier to talk to the owner of the house on the Wyoming County side, who has cleared a road that runs way past the house and yard along the county line to this spot and then beyond.

Anyway, on a day this clear the view was fantastic - all the way out to Lake Ontario over the rest of the county (and Orleans to boot). As Gary Fallesen says, you can even see the Rochester skyline if you look in the right gap between two patches of woodland on a hill to the northeast.

The owner of this property, Mr. Charles Keil of Lakeville, CT, can be reached at (860) 435-8120 for permission, although no one seemed to notice my presence.