So, you're home for the summer.

For some students, this heralds an unrestrained three-month period of parties, sunshine and youthful shenanigans--unhampered by parents, responsibilities or classwork. For others, summer means returning to your lifeless one-horse town, swallowing your idealizations and putting your nose to the grindstone once more. For most of us, it's something in between.

If you are lucky enough to find yourself situated in an urban area, there are a plethora of things to do to occupy your spare time. However, if you're trapped in a town of 1,800 people--where the best thing to do is literally light objects on fire on the corner of dirt roads and throw parties around them--you may need some ideas for summer fun.

I've found that one of the most rewarding and time-killing activities once can undertake is hiking. Luckily I live in an area where hills, mountains, forests and nature-trails maintain a predominant ubiquity.

If you're not so fortunate as to be able to walk two minutes out your back door and encounter a trail, it's worth the drive to find somewhere near you to explore and stretch your legs.

Here is a list of five places in Central New York that are great for explorers, spelunkers, hikers and more.

1) Fox's Falls--Ilion, NY

This is a great location for adventurers of all ages.

Situated on the outskirts of town, minutes from Central Valley High School, the falls attract audiences from around the Mohawk Valley and beyond. The hike up to the falls is about one mile, and on a gradual incline. Affixed on what was once a regularly-maintained road, the trail is at times gravel, dirt, pavement or dried-up creek-bed.

If you go during the spring or after a rain, you'll likely be encountering an active creek bed, and with it a lot of water. It can be slippery once you exit the main road and veer off into the zone of fallen rock and rushing water, so wear appropriate footwear!

There are paths that take you to the bottom, sides and top of the waterfall, as well as cumulative walks that wreathe around the whole of it.

2) Owen D. Young--Van Hornesville, NY

The Robert B. Woodruff Outdoor Learning Center is located conveniently behind the Owen D. Young Central School complex. It encompasses more than 50 acres of forestry, limestone caves and tributaries.

There are a multitude of sites along the networked trail to visit, including individual falls, an active trout stream and outdoor staircases. The trail is well-maintained and monitored by outdoor cameras, so it is a pleasant and safe place to explore the outdoors. The trail-head is also equipped with a restroom.

3) Moss Island--Little Falls, NY

Moss Island is located between the Mohawk River and the Erie Canal and is accessible from Little Falls by Lock 17. It is a great place for walking, running, bike riding and rock-climbing.

There are a number of things to do here and one will almost certainly never run out of new discoveries. In one area, there is a cave that's frigidly cold year-round. In other places, parallel to the paved bike trail, there are small cliffs to climb that offer a great view of the roads, waterways and the mountainous region.

Moss Island is also home to a beautiful wooded area that offers stunning views of the water below. (There are also sites where people can safely cliff-jump, but that is not a recommendation.)

4) Wintergreen Park--Canajoharie, NY

Wintergreen Park is by far one of the most interesting and unique places to visit. That's because most of the "hiking" to be done actually involves trekking along inside the slate creek-bed.

This watery walk is terraced like a staircase and garnished with colorful mosses. On a particularly warm day, the water will be cool in the deep places and noticeably hot in the shallow parts, heated from the dark rock beneath it.

The pinnacle of the experience has to be the swimming holes that appear along the way. Studded between stretches of streams, natural-rock-slides and waterfalls, they offer deep and relaxing areas to cool off.

Notably, there are many crayfish in this creek, with some individuals coming specifically with buckets to collect and cook them! (I don't know how advisable this is.)

5) Russell Park--Ilion, NY

Russell Park in Ilion is another nature trail that is adjoined with school property. Located on the campus of Central Valley Academy, it boasts a veiny network of outdoor paths that snake up and around hills, creeks and forestry

At the head of the trail, following one of the many well-traversed cross-country paths, is "Death Mountain," an extremely steep hill infamous among runners.

There are two pavilions and a small playground along the road that winds through the park, with the lower pavilion available for rent. There are also innumerable ways to get comfortably lost within the spacious park, with abundant wildlife to observe.