It is time for celebrations honoring New York’s outstanding parks system. This year is the 100th anniversary of the New York state park system, officially called the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation.
The system includes 180 parks and 35 historic sites. Surprisingly to many, the state’s two largest parks—Adirondack and Catskill Parks—are not part of the state park system but are instead under the direction of the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Long before the state department was created, New York State was a leader in preservation and nature protection. The first publicly owned historic site in the country, Washington’s Headquarters, opened in New York in 1850. Thirty-five years later Niagara Falls became the first state park in the United States.
The parks department cares for more than 335,000 acres of land, 2,000 miles of trails, 250 properties including parks, historic sites, campgrounds, golf courses, and beaches. There are 54 state parks with beaches, 26 nature centers in the parks, 28 golf courses including the famous Bethpage Black Course which is set to host the Ryder Cup in September 2025.
There is even an historic amusement park—Midway State Park in Bemus Point on Chautauqua Lake. It is one of the oldest continuously operating amusement parks in the nation. Up in the Thousand Islands there are parks on islands accessible only by boat.
There are 8,555 campsites in the parks as well as 967 cabins and cottages, 18 yurts, three inns, and even one lighthouse.
New York’s state parks have been important backdrops in films beginning with the silent film era and the waterfalls in the parks around Ithaca. Of course, Niagara Falls has been the prime backdrop for at least eight movies and most recently Knox Farm was the setting for parts of the movie Cabrini.
During the pandemic, attendance at state parks set new records and the record-breaking attendance numbers have continued. Last year, 84.4 million visitors came to the parks—a six percent increase over the previous year.
The Niagara Region boasts a wealth of parks including Artpark, dedicated to showcasing the performing and visual arts; Grand Island’s Beaver Island attracts with swimming and golf; Evangola, long popular for its fine sand beach and campsites; Old Fort Niagara with swimming, hiking, and boating.
Buffalo Harbor is one of the newest state parks and offers the special experience of kayaking amidst the towering grain mills. Knox Farm in East Aurora is a favorite of dog lovers with one of the largest dog parks anywhere, including a separate park for puppies and small dogs.
Here are some of my favorite state parks:
Niagara Falls State Park: Millions of visitors come from around the globe every year to gaze upon one of the world’s greatest natural wonders that spans two nations and the Niagara River. It drains the waters of four of five Great Lakes.
The Falls are right in our backyard and yet there are many Western New Yorkers who rarely, if ever, come to Niagara Falls. The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Welcome Center finally opened late last year with new ticketing and information desks, plus interpretive museum space including immersive experiences and exhibitions on the history of the Falls. The project complemented the $150 million revitalization of the park landscape to better reflect noted park designer Frederick Law Olmsted’s vision for the landscape.
The season is underway for the two electric Maid of the Mist boats that take passengers to the base of the falls on surely the world’s most exciting, totally accessible, and safe boat ride.
In 1901, Teddy Roosevelt, who was sworn in as President in Buffalo, took a ride proclaiming the experience “the only way fully to realize the grandeur of the great Falls of Niagara.”
It’s hard to believe that it wasn’t always thus, but in 1985 the world celebrated just a century of unrestricted viewing of Niagara Falls. Before 1885, the lands around the falls had become one of the most vulgar tourist traps anywhere, with visitors having to pay for the privilege of seeing the cataract. It was undoubtedly the peepholes that offended the most.
An ingenious lobbying and public relations campaign was developed with one goal: Free Niagara. Spurred by this rallying cry, the Free Niagara Movement—a group of Americans including landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted—returned the area around the falls to its natural state and to the people of the world.
The campaign resulted in the establishment, on July 15, 1885, of the nation’s first state park, embracing 435 acres of land along the American Falls. The Canadians followed with similar action around their portion of the cataract, and the falls’ protection was assured.
Letchworth State Park: This park is one of the crown jewels of the park system and has been voted the country’s best state park. The park is named after William Pryor Letchworth, a Buffalo industrialist and ardent conservationist who rescued and preserved the area.
It is an easy drive from Buffalo and is a park that has it all including the first-of-its-kind Autism Nature Trail. It offers a nature experience for visitors on the autism spectrum, with a range of abilities and for people using wheelchairs, powerchairs, and strollers.
The trail is a one-mile looped main trail with eight stations at various intervals offering a different experience including making music, enjoying a quiet swing, designing, and making a teepee, and walking along a path of stones from the Genesee River.
Dubbed the “Grand Canyon of the East,” it is considered one of the most scenically magnificent areas in the East. It is here that the Genesee River runs fast and deep between towering rock walls, forming a 17-mile gorge with three major waterfalls. There are 66 miles of hiking trails throughout the more than 14,000-acre park.
Beyond hiking, swimming, and whitewater rafting there are hot air balloons that usually fly over the middle and upper falls early morning and early evening on windless days. Every Memorial Day weekend, Balloons Over Letchworth hosts the Red, White & Blue Festival that usually attracts about 20 hot air balloons. Beyond watching the balloons against the backdrop of the park’s scenic beauty, there are hot air balloon rides and tethered balloon experiences.
The Glen Iris Inn is open for meals and overnight stays. Dogs are allowed in the outdoor seating areas and there are plenty of rocking chairs on the porch for relaxing. There are also campgrounds, cabins, and cottages for rent.
Allegany State Park: This park is on the southern border of New York, west of Olean and east of Jamestown. It is the largest of the state parks with 65,000 acres and two developed areas: Red House and Quaker.
The Quaker area is known for its two lakes and memorable camping experiences. It offers a sandy beach for swimming, two fishing piers and a canoeing or kayaking access point. There are miles of hiking trails, park programs offered at the amphitheater, horseshoe pits, baseball fields, basketball, volleyball, and tennis courts.
The park is home to natural rock formations known as Thunder Rocks, as well as three fire towers. The old Quaker store has been completely restored and now houses a park museum. Exhibits document the history of the park as “the Wilderness Playground of Western New York,” and orient visitors to the park’s unique features and attractions, both past and present.
The two campgrounds and 20 cabin trails in the area offer 189 campsites and 230 cabins, 30 of them winterized, and one group cabin. There are also vacation rental cottages with bathrooms, and are furnished and stocked with bedding, cooking utensils, dishes, as well as outside grill and picnic table.
Watkins Glen State Park: This award-winning Finger Lakes Park at the tip of Seneca Lake is the most famous park in the region. Within two miles, the glen’s stream descends 400 feet past 200-foot cliffs, generating 19 waterfalls along its course. The gorge path winds over and under waterfalls and through the spray of Cavern Cascade. Rim trails overlook the gorge.
Campers and day visitors can enjoy the Olympic-size pool, tours through the gorge, campsites, picnic facilities, and fishing in nearby Seneca Lake.
Taughannock Falls State Park: The namesake waterfall is one of the Northeast’s outstanding natural attractions and can be reached along an easy trail. The Falls plunges 215 feet past rocky cliffs that tower nearly 400 feet above the gorge. Gorge and rim trails offer spectacular views from above the falls and from below at the end of the gorge trail.
Campsites and cabins overlook Cayuga Lake with a marina, boat launch and beach.
Travel Tip of the Month: For information on New York parks and historic sites, visit parks.ny.gov. Various centennial events will be held across the state. For the latest information, visit the parks website.
Park visitors are invited to join the Centennial Challenge and take part in some of the 100 challenge activities to get outdoors and discover the parks and historic sites. You can participate as an individual or a team. Why not create a family team? The goal is to complete 24 of the activities. You will earn a commemorative Centennial prize, as well as entry into a random drawing for one of 24 three-year Empire Passes and a Centennial swag bag.
Participants can either download an app or use paper and pencil to keep tract of activities. Find out the details at parks.ny.gov/100/challenge/.
Park visitors have a century or more of memories from visits with family and friends. The parks office invites visitors to share their stories and photos with the Share Your Story project by email at stories@parks.ny.gov; social media at #NYStateParksStory or online. The parks staff will collect the memories and share them on social media, email newsletter, on the parks blog and other avenues.
Deborah Williams lives in Holland, NY and is a veteran travel writer whose work has appeared in national and international publications. She is the recipient of the Society of American Travel Writers’ Lowell Thomas Gold Travel Writing Award.