A Bit Of America's Fourth Coast

We'd recently endured big snowstorms and bone chilling cold, but one day our temperatures went above freezing and into the 40s (F). I drove north to Massena and then west to Wilson Hill Island, which sits in the St. Lawrence River, just south of the Canada/U.S. border:

The north shore of the island is populated with houses, but the rest of the island is the Wilson Hill Wildlife Management Area:

The St. Lawrence River/Seaway is often billed as America's Fourth Coast and I could see why as I drove the causeway across the water to Wilson Hill Island:

Most of the water was still covered with a thick layer of ice, but with our rapidly warming temperatures, I worried about the lone remaining ice fishing shed. I also used the zoom lens to take a picture of the sign on the door to see if it was a notification by rangers to get this shed off the ice, but instead it was the name and address of the owner. I hope the ice solidified safely before the shed fell through:


The houses on the north shore of Wilson Hill Island are mostly upscale, year round residences:

There are still cottages on the shore, but they are gradually being replaced by permanent residences:

It is indeed a beautiful place to live, and I kept thinking how it reminded me of Cape Cod towns:

There were docks and picnic areas still showing above the snow:

And of course many homes had boats:

I was traveling westward, so the left side of the road was mostly forested land, part of the Wilson Hill Wildlife Management area:

Two homes on the shore. I am sure the elevated deck on the left gets a lot of use during the summer:

This elaborately carved archway and fence led only to woodlands of the Wildlife Management Area, but it sure was pretty, and I liked the idea that someone built it just as art:

The shoreline and most of the houses were on my right, but there were a few homes on the left side of the road. This large home was built on the left, away from the shore, but got their St. Lawrence views by adding a large elevated deck on the front of the house:

What a lovely place to live:

Speaking of getting views, this house was built with an entire wall of giant windows and an elevated deck in the style of a pier:

A smaller, simpler home, right on the water:

I came to the end of the island and the offices of the Wildlife Management Area. I couldn't go any farther as that causeway was closed. I turned around at this water tower, which answered my question as to what town the island was in. It is part of the town of Louisville. That was the end of my tour, so I returned to Massena to do some shopping:

Wilson Hill Wildlife Management Area

I was driving on Route 37 towards Massena when I saw a sign for the Wilson Hill Wildlife Management Area. I had spare time, so turned left toward the St. Lawrence Seaway. All along the left side of the road were incredibly beautiful wetlands:

I saw this observation deck so I parked and walked over for a look:

The sign told me all about the area:

I climbed up the observation tower and took pictures of the views:

The St. Lawrence is often called America's Fourth Coast and this scenery made it clear why:

I continued on until I saw this sign. Of course I turned down the road to take a look:

I passed the boat launch and continued onto the Wilson Hill Causeway, with scenes like this on both the left and the right. It was a warm day, but overcast and with cool breezes. It felt very much like being on Cape Cod - but without the salty, fishy smell:

There was a manicured nature trail, which you can see on the left of this photo as it meanders off into the woods:

And there was more scenery by the nature trail. The causeway took me to Wilson Hill, a very nice settlement on an island. It would make an interesting and scenic blog post. Well, maybe the next time I'm in the area:

The road to Wilson Hill was a dead end, so I turned around and began crossing the causeway back the way I'd come. I stopped at this fisherman and asked if I could snap his photo. He said OK but I think he was relieved that I wasn't going to hassle him about having caught his line in the rocks. He was trying to free it, but I pretended not to notice:

And just after I snapped a picture of the fisherman, a couple more fisherman came by in a boat, headed for the public boat launch. They were farther out in the water and I had to use the zoom lens, but you can use your imagination to enhance this photo:

And then I returned the way I'd come, passing by more wetlands and snapped one last photo along the way. I was headed into Massena after that, so I put my camera away and focused my attention on not getting lost:

Discovering The St. Lawrence Seaway, Part 2

I'd made a driving tour of the town of Massena and then to Coles Creek State Campground where I was checking out the mighty St. Lawrence Seaway:

Most of the shoreline was rocky, but there were a few sandy beaches available to the campers. This, however, was late November and the park was closed:

I had the park to myself and got to walk undisturbed along the shore. The day was cold and the winds were howling fiercely:

Even my little red car seemed to shiver as it endured the cold winds:

When I'd seen all there was to see, I returned to the park entrance to make my exit, driving around multiple large piles of snow in the entrance road, perhaps put there to keep people out(?):

I left Coles Creek State Park and drove back toward Massena on Route 37. But of course I had to turn in at Wilson Hill Wildlife Management Area to take a look. The roads were tiny dirt lanes filled with water and potholes. Also, it was hunting season, so I soon abandoned that effort and returned to the highway:

Route 37 at that point was very rural and somewhat upscale, with very nice old restored farm houses:

There was a large farm full of friendly horses who regarded my stopped car with great interest:

More horses came out the barn door to see who was stopped along the road:

But then I saw a road leading north on Willard Road toward the St. Lawrence and turned. It took me to the Wilson Hill Boat Launch:

On the shores of the  mighty St. Lawrence Seaway:

A causeway led across the water but I didn't take it. Later, I learned from my map that the causeway would have taken me to a large island with more state land. Well, I'll drive there next summer when the weather is more pleasant: