Shadow Pines: All But Forgotten

This past Labor Day holiday weekend (2020), I hiked at the now-defunct Shadow Pines Golf Course in Penfield, New York. Having played golf there years ago, it was a little surreal, maybe a little dystopian, hiking in and around the fairways, greens, golf cart paths, and sand traps that are now mere remnants of their immaculate past. The course itself is pretty messy and overgrown with weeds and wildflowers. And the golf cart paths are buckling and, in many cases, crumbling. But there is an inherent beauty amidst the messiness of the landscape. Teeming with wildlife in a primarily forgotten space, Shadow Pines is now home to wandering deer, myriad birds, and an abundance of butterflies. It’s also a refuge for us humans looking for a temporary retreat from everyday life and a peaceful coexistence with nature.