El Camino community to celebrate ten years of the Thomas R. Frey Trail

Natalia Rodríguez Medina, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
·2 min read

El Camino Trail is turning 10 years old, and the community will soon celebrate the milestone.

The Genesee Land Trust alongside the Ibero-American Action League and community members will gather at the trail Saturday, June 4.

"It felt like a great project to bring to this city. It is a recreational trail that people organize around and a community asset for other investments that happened," said Gay Mills, Executive Director of Genesee Land Trust.

The idea for the trail started 20 years ago. Members of the Genesee Land Trust knew that the CSX railroad that cut through dozens of blocks in northern Rochester would make a great trail to bring city residents closer to nature.

El Camino Trail in Rochester is a pedestrian and bike trail that starts just before Conkey Ave. and ends near Seneca Park. The trail runs north and south.
El Camino Trail in Rochester is a pedestrian and bike trail that starts just before Conkey Ave. and ends near Seneca Park. The trail runs north and south.

In 2012, Thomas R. Frey Trail at El Camino came to life, bringing nature closer to the city and inspiring the development of businesses, parks and homes. Named after longtime Land Trust board member and supporter of the trail, it came to be after a decade of of negotiations between the city and CSX officials to secure the land.

Mills said that since opening the trail, the community, now known as El Camino, has thrived, thanks to help from the city and Ibero, which helped fund El Camino Estates, an affordable housing neighborhood, an Ibero-led Senior Center and a community center opening later this year.

"The trail connects residents and helped create identity in the El Camino neighborhood. El Camino is a shining example and demonstration of the power of connecting to nature," according to a written statement from Miguel Melendez, City Council president and the Chief Community Engagement Officer at Ibero-American Action League.

The celebrations will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Conkey Corner Park and include a community bike ride, presentations, free food, games and more.

If you go

Where: Conkey Corner Park, 92 Conkey Ave., Rochester 

When: Saturday, June 4 

Events schedule:  

9:30 a.m.: Community bike ride departing from Conkey Corner Park (participants must bring own bicycle and helmet) 

11 a.m. to noon: Community presentations 

Noon to 3 p.m.: Lunch, lawn games, batting cage, inflatable bounce house, bird demonstrations, community vendor tables 

Natalia Rodríguez Medina is a bilingual reporter covering the Puerto Rican and Latino population for the Democrat and Chronicle in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on Twitter at @nataliarodmed or email her at nrodriguezmedina@gannett.com. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Thomas R. Frey Trail at El Camino celebration at Conkey Corner Park