20 Day Get Outdoors Fall Festival Challenge With Reinstein Woods

Scroll down to see the list of 20 places to visit. To help you track your progress, print off this checklist. Be sure to share your adventures on social media using #RWFallFest2020.

Register below, or print and mail a registration form.

20-Day Get Outdoors Challenge Locations

(The number in parentheses indicates how many of festivals the organization attended between 2001 and 2019. Sites with an asterisk have an entrance fee.)

1: Buffalo Audubon Society   (11 Fall Festivals!)

• Property to Visit:  Beaver Meadow Audubon Center  Established in 1909, Buffalo Audubon is dedicated to the promotion of the appreciation and enjoyment of the natural world through education and stewardship. A regional, independent organization and chapter affiliate of National Audubon, Buffalo Audubon stewards over 1,000 acres of land throughout Western NY, with our office headquarters at Beaver Meadow Audubon Center in Wyoming County. Buffalo Audubon leads and inspires Western New Yorkers to connect with and protect the natural world through bird-focused activities, advocacy, and habitat restoration. The Nature Center (with restrooms and gift shop) at Beaver Meadow Audubon Center is open to the public:
  Wednesday – 1-4pm  Thursday – 1-4pm  Friday – 10am-4pm  Saturday – 10am-4pm  Sunday – 1-4pm
  Trails are open sunrise to sunset
  Trail maps are available at the parking lot kiosk and also outside the Nature Center. A nature play area called Woodland Way, as well as StoryBook Trail and Fairy House Lane are also available for families to visit and explore.

2: Buffalo Zoo   (12 Fall Festivals!)

• Property to Visit:  Buffalo Zoo*

3-6: DEC Division of Fish, Wildlife & Marine Resources  (15 Fall Festivals!)

• Participating Locations:  Cazenovia Creek Fish & Wildlife Management Area, Great Baehre Swamp, Spicer Creek Wildlife Management Area, Tillman Road Wildlife Management Area

7: DEC Division of Lands & Forests  (7 Fall Festivals!) 

• Property to Visit: Boutwell Hill State Forest  The 2,944-acre Boutwell Hill State Forest provides opportunities for many informal outdoor recreational activities, including hosting a portion of the Earl Cardot Eastside Overland Trail. It is also a source of raw materials for New York’s forest products industry, providing employment and income for many New Yorkers. These lands were purchased by the people of New York State starting in the 1930s for timber production, recreational use, watershed protection and wildlife. Parking lots are located at Lewis and Ruttenbur Roads and at Boutwell Hill and Mill Creek Roads. Forest management practices in the state forest may disrupt trail use at times.

8-9: DEC Great Lakes Program  (9 Fall Festivals!)

Although the DEC Great Lakes Program does not directly manage properties, they were intimately involved with habitat restoration projects at these two parks. At Niawanda Park in Tonawanda, DEC created a “soft” shoreline to enhance ecosystem value in this section of the Niagara Greenway, which is also an Important Bird Area (IBA). The Ohio Street Boat Launch features a pollinator meadow and is a great place to launch your canoe or Kayak onto the Buffalo River Urban Canoe Trail.

• Properties to Visit: Niawanda Park, Ohio Street Boat Launch

10-12: Erie County Park Rangers  (4 Fall Festivals!) 

• Participating Properties: Isle View, Franklin Gulf, and Seneca Bluffs 

13: New York Power Authority   (11 Fall Festivals!) 

• Property to Visit:  Robert Moses Fishing Pier

14-16: New York State Parks (15 Fall Festivals!)

NYS Parks Booth at 2016 Fall Festival

Over the years educators from several New York State Parks have attended the festival. There are so many great State Parks to choose from, but challenge yourself to visit these three! 

• Participating Locations:   Evangola State Park*, Buffalo Outer Harbor State Park, Joseph Davis State Park
  Visit the beautiful natural sand beach located on the shore of Lake Erie at Evangola State Park. The parks offers swimming, several picnic shelters and a nature center located in the campground!

   Check out the newest state park, Buffalo Harbor State Park! Boasting beautiful views of Lake Erie, the park is home to a 1,100 slip marina, a restaurant, boat launches, personal watercraft launches, fish cleaning station, restrooms, and a beach for strolling and sunbathing, and a nautical themed playground great for kids of all ages.

  Joseph Davis State Park is a Bird Conservation Area with 1,400 feet of frontage on the Niagara River and 31 acres of underwater land. Anglers can fish for largemouth bass in the pond near the park entrance or for a variety of freshwater fish from the fishing dock on the lower Niagara River. The park also has a nature trail, as well as a 27-hole frisbee disc golf course.

17: Penn Dixie Fossil Park & Nature Reserve  (18 Fall Festivals!)

• Property to Visit: Reinstein Woods! (Since Penn Dixie’s property will be closed at the time of the 20-2020 Festival, registered Challenge participants will receive details on taking a fossil hunt at Reinstein Woods!)

18: Tifft Nature Preserve (13 Fall Festivals!)

Fun Festival Fact: Tifft is part of the Buffalo Museum of Science, which had its own exhibit at 2 Fall Festivals!

• Property to Visit:  Tifft Nature Preserve

19: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service  (17 Fall Festivals!)

• Property to Visit:  Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge There are ample opportunities to observe wildlife throughout the year on Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. Among overlooks, photography blinds, trails, and other recreational opportunities you can discover the diversity of wildlife and habitats the refuge has to offer. The refuge serves primarily as a nesting, feeding, resting and staging areas for migratory waterfowl. The varied habitats support approximately 266 species of birds, 42 species of mammals, plus reptiles, fish, amphibians and insects. Bald eagles have maintained an active nest on the refuge since 1986.

20: Western New York Land Conservancy (6 Fall Festivals!) 

• Property to Visit:  College Lodge Forest