Region 1: Niagara Falls State Park
The mighty crash of Niagara Falls is indisputably the focal point of America’s first state park. Millions of visitors flock to the attractions, interactive exhibits and miles of hiking trails. Whether you choose to feel the water and wind on the Maid of the Mist tour, get completely drenched at the Cave of the Winds pavilion, or view the American and Horseshoe Falls atop the Observation Tower, there are awe-inspiring adventures for everyone.
This magnificent natural wonder formed 12,000 years ago when water, released from melting ice during the ice age, plunged over the edge of the Niagara Escarpment, a steep slope running east to west from New York to Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. It was the home of the first large-scale hydroelectric generation station, opened in 1895, and in 1896, electrical engineer Nikola Tesla proved he could transmit electricity from Niagara Falls to Buffalo using his new AC induction motor.
Region 2: Watkins Glen State Park
With 19 waterfalls, this beautiful Finger Lakes park offers visitors a chance to get up close and personal with nature’s water wonders. Formed by glacial activity, the gorge path winds over and under waterfalls, sprinkling a fine mist over you as you pass through Cavern Cascade. The rim trail offers spectacular views of the gorge and its many geological features.
The state purchased the park in 1906. In 2015, the park was chosen from more than 6,000 state parks across the United States to compete for USA Today’s Reader’s Choice Poll for Best State Park in the United States. Watkin’s Glen won third!
Region 3: Ganondagan State Historic Site
If you have an interest in Native American history, head on out to the town of Victor, where Ganondagan State Historic Site sits on 569 acres, the original site of a 17th century Seneca town. Ganondagan is the only state historic site dedicated to a Native American theme. It brings the culture, art, agriculture and government of the Seneca people to life and portays how it influenced our modern understanding of equality, democratic government, women’s rights, ecology, and natural foods.
One of the most impressive features of the park, the full-size Seneca Bark Longhouse, is fully furnished to reflect a typical Seneca family from the late 1600s, complete with reproductions of 17th century objects. The site also offers interactive exhibits in the Seneca Art & Culture Center, and interpretive trails.
Region 4: Green Lakes State Park
Visitors to Green Lakes State Park can’t miss the beautiful blue-green of the two glacial lakes, formed 15,000 years ago, and surrounded by old-growth forest of hemlocks and tulip trees. The 200-feet deep lakes are “meromictic,” meaning there is no fall and spring mixing of surface and bottom waters, leaving a high potential for evidence of ancient plant and animal life.
The park also boasts an 18-hole golf course, designed by Robert Trent Jones, 15 miles of trails, and a popular beach that lets you get up close and personal with the unique water.
Region 5: Robert Treman State Park
There are not many places you can go in New York and see 12 waterfalls, including a 115-feet cascade. Located in Ithaca, the Enfield Glen gorge winds along the waterfalls, and a viewpoint along the trail offers visitors the chance to see a mile-and-a-half-down.
Robert H. Treman was the first chairman of the Finger Lakes State Parks Commission. He and his wife, Laura, purchased hundreds of acres which they donated to the state to be preserved as green space. In addition to this park, the donation protects Buttermilk Falls State Park, Taughannock Falls State Park, Six Mile Creek Natural Area, and Cascadilla Gorge and Trail.
Region 6: Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site
The Erie Canal is one of the 19th century’s greatest commercial and engineering projects and the Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site preserves that history for visitors, year-round. Many of the site’s structures date back to the three eras of the canal’s development.
Among the highlights are the Putnam Lock Stand at Yankee Hill that houses an exhibit on Erie Canal stores and the remains of the Schoharie Aqueduct. It is also the location of 18th century Fort Hunter and Lower Castle Mohawk Village.
Region 7: John Brown Farm State Historic Site
You might have heard the lyrics, “John Brown’s body lies a-moundering in the grave,” but did you know that grave is in New York? You can visit it at the John Brown Farm State Historic Site.
John Brown is best known for the 1859 assault on the U.S. Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, during which Brown and his followers planned to use captured arms in a campaign for the liberation of slaves in the South. The plan failed and Brown was captured and hanged.
One of the richest fossil-bearing formations in the world, Thacher State Park, named after Albany mayor John Boyd Thacher, sits along the Helderberg Escarpment and encompasses six miles of limestone cliff-face, rock-strewn slopes, woodland, and open fields. From the park, you can see the Hudson-Mohawk Valleys and the Adirondack and Green Mountains.
Visitors can traverse the famous Indian Ladder Trail, which was used by the Mohawk Iroquois 400 years ago to reach a trading post run by the Dutch. The trail descends 60 feet to the base of the Escarpment, passing under Minelot Falls and exiting through a small cave.
Region 9: Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park
The longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world is here in New York. At the Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park, opened in 2009, visitors can walk, jog, or bike the 212-foot-high, 1.28-mile former railroad bridge spanning the Hudson River.
Through immense community support, bolstered by state, federal and not-for-profit groups, the walkway took a dilapidated relic and turned it into a top attraction. Ride the glass elevator up to the park or down to the Poughkeepsie waterfront and enjoy the scenery of the bridge from atop and below.
Region 10: Riverbank State Park
Where can you see something that is the only one of its kind in the Western Hemisphere? Riverbank State Park! The urban rooftops of Japan inspired this 28-acre multi-level landscaped recreation area 69 feet above the Hudson River.
Among the attractions at the park, named for former Assemblyman Herman Denny Farrell, are an Olympic-sized pool, a covered skating rink, an 800-seat theater, a 2,500-seat athletic complex and a 150-seat restaurant. There’s even more outside, with a 25-yard lap pool, a wading pool, tennis, basketbally and paddleball courts, and a running track.
Region 11: Shirley Chisholm State Park
Named for Shirley Chisholm, the first African American congresswoman and the first woman and African American to run for president, this park rises 130 feet above sea level and occupies some of the highest ground in New York City.
On the site of former landfills spanning 407 acres, more than 1.2 million cubic yards of clean soil, enough to fill 100,000 dump trucks, was brought in to spread across the site. Afterward, 35,000 trees and shrubs were planted, creating a diverse ecosystem for people to enjoy.
Region 12: Jones Beach State Park
With 6.5 miles of white-sand beach and more than 2,400 acres of maritime environment, Jones Beach State Park on the south shore of Long Island is known worldwide, drawing more than six million visitors a year.
The park has something for everyone. A boardwalk, the beach, a nature center, restaurants and other food options, fishing, playgrounds, and much more. The park was created by master builder Robert Moses in the 1920s by dredging sand from what is now the State Boat Channel. Moses raised the elevation of the barrier islands by 14 feet, connecting several small islands into one long one. He created a “people’s park” out of what he described as mosquito infested swamp and small islands.