ALEX BUCKNAM
Asst. News Editor
During your evening walk around Fredonia, if you end up on Risley St. coming off of Temple St., you will go on a bridge that goes over Canadaway Creek. You may not realize there’s college students sitting right below your feet.
Canadaway Creek (“the creek,” as referred to by the majority of Fredonia students) is known for being a popular spot for students to hang out after classes and relax, but this depends on what part of the creek you go to.
There are multiple spots of the creek that are accessible, which causes it to be filled with college students.
One pathway to the creek is through Temple St. By walking across the street in front of the Andrews dorm complex and going down the right driveway, you will find a big open field of grass, with a mown path that connects to the driveway. Follow that path, and you are likely to find students getting high.
Almost immediately when you get close to the creek, you get hit with the smell of skunk due to the abundance of weed. You can spot most friend groups passing around either a bong, pipe or a joint. You name a way to smoke weed, and there is probably one student doing it.
With so many students here, “surprisingly chaotic” is the best way to explain this place.
The students are actually not as crazy as one may assume — they aren’t causing mayhem, but instead talking about college life.
“Oh yeah, I had that professor last year, he was alright,” one college student noted when talking about class schedules. Other students just sit right next to the creek, quietly skipping rocks.
There are other spots of the creek that don’t have high college students. If you go to the side of Risley St. with the white picket fence, at the beginning of the fence, you will be greeted with a narrow pathway followed by a steep path covered with large rocks that leads down to the creek.
To get to this spot you have to carefully step from rock to rock, and grab on to the rough texture of the bark on the trees. This might be painful, but the view makes this worthwhile.
This spot might not be accessible depending on what time of the year you go. During the winter and early spring when the cold air hits your face and makes your nose dribble, or late fall when the cold wind is just starting, the water might be too high and the current might be too strong for people to safely get down to this part of the creek.
So going to this spot during late spring, summer, or early/mid fall when the weather is in that not-too-hot, not-too-cold window makes this the perfect time of the year to go. This is when the water is shallow and quiet.
When you finally make it safely down to the pebble, flat area, there are multiple big rocks that you can sit on.
This spot is perfect for relaxing to the sounds of flowing water and cars passing right next to you.
You can even sit under the bridge, which is surrounded by graffiti art. The graffiti art is the only part of this spot that is chaotic. Every new thing that gets added is quickly covered up with another thing just days later, which makes it look like the art threw up.
The spot itself is quiet and peaceful. There is rarely anyone here, and you can sit down with your friends and finally get out of the college setting if you need a break. There are no longer multiple conversations in your ear about professors or what next semester looks like — it is just you and whoever you bring.
When there are people other than you here, they are normally on the other side of the creek waiting to be alone so they can add their own personal graffiti to the wall of blob art. If you happen to run into these groups of kids and want to leave, you can follow the trail that heads away from the bridge for a fall view.
This walk is super scenic if you go during the fall time. The trees right above you are turning orange and red and some of the leaves are already beginning to fall and starting to rot.
As you step on the crunchy fall leaves, you might be able to spot shiny rocks in the creek. If you pick up a rock and it is smooth and shiny, it might be a crystal. This part of the creek has an abundance of quartz, so it is easy to find clear, milky or rose quartz here.
Crystals are not the only cool thing you might be able to find. An in-depth search may reward you with fossils. Brachiopods, and horn coral shells are noted to be found here.
According to geology student Jasper Bateman, “These two are marine animals. Brachiopods are still around to this day, but horn coral lived in the late Devonian time period, around 300 million years ago.”
Students Adrian Roberts and Bateman both say that after leaving this spot and making the 15-minute walk back to their dorms, they feel more calm. Roberts and Bateman both recommend using a trip to the creek as a way to destress.