20th Otsego Octet Challenge offers winter fun
Winter Octet patch
Looking for some motivation and ideas for enjoying more time outside? Otsego Outdoors is offering its 20th Otsego Octet Challenge. Participants who complete eight of the featured Winter Octet Challenge activities earn an embroidered patch, a water-proof sticker, and a listing on the Otsego Outdoors Challenge roster.
For the Winter Octet challenge, participants can hike, snowshoe or cross country ski on trails at State Parks (Glimmerglass, Gilbert Lake, Robert V. Riddell, and Betty and Wilbur Davis), State Forests (Arnold Lake, Goodyear Lake Waterway Access), an Otsego Land Trust property (Parslow Road Conservation Area), and a Town Park (Fortin Park). The Rogers Environmental Education Center in Sherburne in Chenango County is also an option. There also is a “Choose Your Own” option that includes any outdoors activity in Otsego County, including ice skating, winter biking, sledding, tubing, making a snowman, and ice fishing, as well as hiking, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing on other trails.
Four local nonprofits—Otsego 2000, Otsego Land Trust, the Otsego County Conservation Association, and the Butternut Valley Alliance—started Otsego Outdoors and the Otsego Octet Challenges to connect people with year-round opportunities to enjoy the outdoors in and near Otsego County. The Otsego Outdoors Winter Octet Challenge runs through March 19, 2026.
Since the Otsego Octet Challenges began in February 2021, more than 1,000 people and more than 140 dogs have completed the challenges. People who complete and Otsego Octet Challenge in each season become Four Season Octet-ers, and earn special patches.
People also can get credit toward the Otsego Outdoors Winter Octet Challenge by participating in an outdoor event. There are winter festivals coming up, like Frost Fest at the Hartwick College Pine Lake campus on January 17, the Cooperstown Winter Carnival February 5-8, and the Winter Living Celebration at the Rogers Center on February 7. The website otsegooutdoors.org has a calendar with details on these events as well as guided hikes, snowshoeing, and more.
New this year, participants can get credit for reporting invasive species to iMapInvasives app. Each observation supports conservation work across Otsego County. The Otsego County Conservation Association is leading a free workshop on invasive species in the Otsego County area and on using the iMapInvasives on January 21 at 6 pm.
To participate in the Otsego Outdoors Winter Octet, go to www.otsegooutdoors.org for more information on the featured trails and a registration form. Anyone with questions about the program or suggestions for other trails to include in future challenges can call Peg Odell at Otsego 2000, 607/547-8881 or email outdoors@otsego2000.org.