About two dozen people attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday afternoon marking the official re-opening of the greatly improved Hojack Trail.
As you probably know, the Hojack is Webster’s premier Rails-To-Trails trail. Part of the former Hojack Railroad, the trail runs almost five miles from the northwest of town to the southeast, between Lake Road and Phillips Road. Several connections to other trails can also me made from the Hojack, including the Vosburg Hollow Nature Trail, John Ungar & Michael A. Johnson Trails, Charles E. Sexton Memorial Park, and the Bird Sanctuary Trail. It’s one of the most popular trails in the Webster trails system.
For several months through last summer and fall and into this spring, volunteers from the Friends of Webster Trails (FWT) worked hard, resurfacing the entire stretch between Holt and Drumm roads, improving drainage, and adding plantings, signage and benches. The work was made possible with a large grant, which was matched by two anonymous donors. Those improvements were officially introduced to the Webster community at Thursday’s ribbon-cutting.
FWT Board Member Ben Wisniewski welcomed the assembled guests, and reminded everyone about the trail’s rich history, which goes back to 1875 when the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad — the “Hojack Line” — came through town.
He said,
By the 1890s, the railroad was the center of the village, with a large station there. Four daily trains took passengers to Sea Breeze and into Rochester, while freight was shipped out of town. The golden age of the railroad transformed Webster and the entire area. But times changed, cars and trucks become the dominant means of transport, and the railroad eventually closed.
Passenger trains stopped running to Sea Breeze in 1929, and in 1964, less than 100 years after the Webster Station was built, this section of the Hojack Line closed.
It wasn’t until the 1990s when a local movement began to turn the old rail bed into the rail trail we love today. The Friends of Webster Trails was established in 1997, charged with maintaining the new Hojack Trail.
The Friends have created many more trails in the years since, but the Hojack has always been one of the most popular. But there were often times when the trail would get very muddy, flooded and sometimes become impassible. FWT has long wished to improve the trail surface, but the cost to do that was a huge stumbling block.
Then, in early 2025, the stars aligned. FWT became aware of the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Trails Maintenance Fund for Western New York, which provided a large chunk of the needed funds. And when two very generous community members stepped forward to provide the funds required to make up the difference, the work could begin.
In addition to the resurfacing, the FWT added two new kiosks with maps and trail information, wayfinding signs, point-of-interest signs, new trees and shrubs and access bollards, all designed and built by FWT and its community partners.
The Hojack really is a beautiful trail, and the crown jewel of our extensive trail system. We owe a huge debt to the Friends of Webster Trails for all the work they’ve done to really bring it up to snuff so that we can all enjoy it for years to come.
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We have an amazing trail system in our town, and I hope you can see now that the Friends of Webster Trails are the folks to thank for that. These dedicated volunteers are committed to planning, maintaining, and promoting our trails, and advocating for the preservation of the natural character of Webster’s open spaces.
If you’re a regular user of any of Webster’s 28 miles of trails, please consider showing them some love by becoming a member of the Friends. It doesn’t cost much (really, just $15 for an individual or $20 for a family) and the funds go directly to making our trail system better for everyone to enjoy.
You can find out more about the organization and see an interactive map of all the trails at the Friends of Webster Trails website.
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(posted 9/6/2026)
