Spring along the Amish Trail
Spring along the Amish Trail
Discover authentic Amish craftsmanship and culture on a scenic shopping adventure.
"Visiting the Amish Trail offers a truly unique experience you won't find anywhere else," says Samantha Hayes, Tourism Specialist for Cattaraugus County. "Our Amish neighbors are incredibly skilled artisans and gracious neighbors. They welcome visitors who appreciate quality craftsmanship, peaceful landscapes, and a slower, more meaningful way of life."
Imagine being able to buy handmade quilts and aprons, baskets, jams, homemade cheese, butter, fudge, honey and maple syrup, fresh eggs, wooden toys, hickory bentwood rockers, custom shoes, or rugs just by driving up the road and stopping at people’s homes. On that same trip, you might stop to inquire about custom-made bath or kitchen cabinetry, sheds or buildings, lumber or metalwork for your home. For equestrians you can order a new handmade saddle or or get an old one repaired. The list of items one finds when shopping in Amish country is staggering. And everything is handcrafted. If you are planning your garden, many Amish offer plants for your home and garden. Look here before you head to city nurseries.
“Spring Along the Amish Trail,” planned for Saturday, May 17th, is a shopping event like no other. Check your gas tank (no filling stations), bring lots of cash (the Amish do not take credit cards), an appetite for freshly baked goods, candies and cheeses, and flat shoes to walk through yards. You may want to stop at a restaurant and public restroom before the trip because you will find none within about 15 miles of the trail. (Please note: The word “trail” is used in the loosest sense. There is scattered signage, but you really want to use the map available online at Amishtrail.com to get coordinates, because they don’t give many road addresses in the map.)
You can request or pick up a map before the event through Cattaraugus County Tourism, or at various “English” establishments as you prepare to go into Amish Country (“English” is what the Amish call the non-Amish). The Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce has a supply of the maps and, if you visit Ellicottville on a weekend before the 17th, stop at the Ellicottville Historical Society any Saturday from 1:00-4:00pm to obtain a free map. Leon Historical Society (open Saturdays 11:00am-2:00pm) also has maps and is worth stopping in to visit and learn about this quaint Civil War Veteran established town. Maps can also be found at Mystic Hill Olde Barn Country Gift Shop on Mosher Hollow Road, just on the outskirts of Cattaraugus. Open from 10:00am-5:00pm, you may want to stop there early as you might get sidetracked with the array of out-of-the ordinary gifts and Amish items they have for sale in their two-floor, 160-year-old restored barn shop. There’s even an Amish buggy inside where you can have a photo of yourself taken. Visit the Valley View Cheese Company (valleyviewcheese.com) on 6028 Route 62, Conewango Valley, which is open six days a week at 8:30am. They close Saturdays at 7:00pm.
Please be aware that once you get off the main roads and enter Amish country, you may encounter Amish horse-drawn buggies moving along at about 10mph. Horn blowing will frighten the horses as will zooming around them. This is the time to slow your own pace and enjoy the pastoral views until you find you can safely pass at a moderate speed.
To get the most out of your trip, it’s important to understand a bit about who the Amish are. They are devout Christians who believe in simple living, shun materialism, and live lives that they hope will be pleasing to God. Today, the Conewango settlement of Old Order Amish is one of the most conservative in New York. They wear their traditional clothing and hats and don’t use gas driven vehicles for transportation or for their farming. They travel by horse-drawn buggies, and their farm plows are pulled by horses. Amish homes have no electricity (but may have gas or battery powered lamps), indoor toilets, carpeting, sofas or upholstered furniture; they have no pictures on their walls, and especially no family pictures of any sort. They believe in God’s command not to have graven images before them and firmly adhere to it. Please, honor their beliefs and do not ask for, nor try to take photographs of the Amish. No, not even from the back.
At Amishrules.com, we learn, “They’re a close-knit community that is united by their shared Germanic heritage and religious beliefs. Despite living in a predominantly English-speaking country, they’ve maintained their cultural identity for over 300 years.” The Conewango Valley settlement is the oldest and one of the two largest in NYS.
On your tour, you will be buying Amish products from their homes. Look for a sign in their front yard to direct you. There are 200+ Amish shops in the area, so check the map to find those you want to visit. Take advantage of this special event to familiarize yourself with the area, the culture, and the shops, and then plan to return for a leisurely, quiet day in the country. During the week you may see the children playing outside the many schoolhouses, moms hanging the laundry on the massive porches or drawn up by pulley on the line or tending to their meticulous gardens at the sides of their houses, young men plowing the fields with their horses, carpenters working in their shops, or any number of daily activities happening. Their shops are generally open most days, but they are always closed on Sundays, as that is their day of communal worship. Services are held in alternating homes. Sometimes walls are moved, benches are brought in, and the entire day is devoted to prayer and the gathering of the community in worship and eating together.
Spending a day in the Amish community is a wonderful, relaxing day trip away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Learn more at amishtrail.com.