Humans aren’t the only species of animals that enjoy state parks. Park staff will occasionally find clues of what animals may live there, such as scat, a chewed branch, or a feather. But we don’t always get to watch out for wildlife to stroll on by, especially in remote parts of parks. The best tool for this job is a game camera. Park staff use these camera traps to ‘capture’ these animals in a safe, respectful way.
Park educators from across New York have put together a snapshot of what we’ve discovered. Now, you too can witness and enjoy some of our favorite remarkable wildlife encounters taking place here at our parks when humans are not present.
Centuries of holiday traditions to experience. A park that’s only open one season a year. Meteor showers overhead, tracks through the snow, and miles of trails to enjoy in a whole different way.
Winter fun is everywhere at state parks and historic sites! Below are ten activities we suggest you experience this season.
The heart of winter: the ski lodge at Fahnestock Winter Park in the Hudson Valley.
1. Visit Fahnestock Winter Park.Celebrate the spirit of winter at the only park in our system devoted exclusively to the season. At Fahnestock, you’ll discover 20 kilometers of machine-groomed cross-country ski trails, an extensive network of blazed snowshoeing trails, and sledding and tubing. Fuel up at the concession stand and unwind by the fire pit with your fellow winter lovers for the full seasonal experience! No gear? No problem! You can rent equipment for skate and classic skiing, as well as snowshoes, sledding tubes, and tow-behind baby pulks. Check conditions before you go.
Many people who visit state parks and historic sites year after year think of them as a second home. But Grafton Lakes State Park is truly home to park manager Melissa Ann Miller.
Grafton Lakes has always been a special place for Miller. As a child, she visited frequently. She has worked there for 20 years and lived in the park for over a decade, raising her family on site. She moved in when her oldest son was two years old, and her youngest son has never known any other home.
“He was raised here… born, raised, done every activity in the park, been a part of everything. Even knowing that we ever lived in another place just blows his mind,” Miller said. “He’s 11… he can’t even fathom.”
As one of several Parks employees who lives permanently at their park or historic site facility, Miller has a unique perspective and story to share.
Lights have long been associated with the holiday season, along with family, holiday cheer, and guiltlessly indulging in your sweet tooth.
At Grafton Lakes State Park in Rensselaer County, staff chose to embrace that season of light by placing dozens of luminaria along trails for the park’s inaugural annual holiday “Luminary Walk” in December. What are luminaria, one might ask? ( Hint: It is not the plural of luminary.)
Originating in the Philippines after it became a Spanish colony at the beginning of the 16th century, luminaria are small paper lanterns with candles used to mark the Christmas season. Originally made then from bamboo and paper coming from China, the Philippine tradition of luminaria was brought eastward by Spanish traders into the southwestern North America and Mexico when that region was still controlled by Spain.
Today, holiday luminaria as a reflection of a holiday contribution of Hispanic culture are a common sight in the southwestern United States, including New Mexico and Arizona, but have become popular in other parts of the country as well.
To bring that festive glow into the northern forests at Grafton, parks staff led by Tamara Beal arranged for more than 125 luminaria for the festival, while also seeing to it that firewood was stacked, marshmallows were prepped on sticks, and hot coco was steaming by the jugful.
Each light was powered by three triple AAA batteries and each white paper bag required a precisely cut wooden block to weigh down the bag. The maintenance staff cut the blocks and strung lights along the boardwalk for the event. All 125 bags with lights and blocks were put together, loaded up into a utility vehicle and spaced out along a half-mile of trail by staffers Rebecca Milanese and Ava Bassallo.
Check out the slideshow of the luminaria trail below…
Under crystal dark skies and the light of a full moon in December, an unprecedented 900 people showed up for the event and to walk the illuminated paths.
With Holiday music wafting from the Welcome Center back patio, there was a general buzz of happiness and joy. Visitors warmed up by the fire with marshmallow and stick in hand, creating a tasty treat. Children sat down inside stimulating their imaginations to create one-of-kind holiday crafts. Behind the scenes, volunteers and staff members were serving the public, refilling the hot chocolate jug, breaking up pieces of chocolate, restocking the crafts, and more.
The magical illuminated journey began on the boardwalk just beyond the back patio. As the Holiday music faded, a serene silence welcomed the wanderer. Each step in the light a reminder of fond Holiday memories. Up the stairs of the replica fire tower, with a bird’s eye view, the forest twinkled in brilliance. Just beyond the forest, romance rolled on the wind by the lake as many couples opted for a moonlit stroll.
What was originally foreseen by event coordinator, Tamara Beal, as being a small quaint event, left hundreds of people renewed in their holiday cheer in a park dotted with dozens of warm points of light. Thank you to all those who came out and to staff members and volunteers who dedicated their time and contributed to the magic.
Cover shot – Replica Fire Tower with luminaria at Grafton Lakes State Park. All photos by NYS Parks unless otherwise noted.
Post by Tamara Beal, Environmental Educator, Grafton Lakes State Park
Check out future events at Grafton Lakes State Parks here.
Moonlight over Long Pond at Grafton Lakes State Park (Photo Credit – Deborah Balcanoff, used with permission)
***UPDATE***
Interested in attending an upcoming luminaria walk? There is one scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 24, 2021 at Moreau Lake State Park in Saratoga County. Click here for more details.
It’s July 1st, 1971. Nelson Rockefeller is governor of New York State, “It’s too Late” by Carole King is number one on the music charts, and gas is 40 cents a gallon. In the eastern part of the state, just shy of the Vermont border, a new state park opens in Rensselaer County, welcoming swimmers onto a monumental 1,000-foot beach.
Michael Hogan is an 18-year-old lifeguard at the new Grafton Lakes State Park, earning $1.76 an hour to keep watch over that beach with two other lifeguards, Sandy Town from Pittstown and Paul R. Jones, who everyone called “Buzz.”
Recalling the day 50 years later for the Grafton Lakes State Park’s new oral history project, Hogan remembers that his team performed a simulated rescue that aired that evening on an Albany television station covering the park opening, which was attended by State Parks Commissioner Dr. Sal J. Prezioso and other dignitaries.
Located in the heart of the Rensselaer Plateau, the new park included five lakes, 1,850 acres, a concession stand, and a park office. Hogan worked at Grafton for seven years, and now is retired and living in Rensselaer County.
This dawning of a new park was followed shortly by the end of another era at Grafton, when the Dickinson Fire Tower was shut down in 1972 after 48 years in service. One of the tower’s observers, who looked out from atop the 60-foot tower for signs of fire, was Grafton resident Helen Ellett. She was one of a handful of state female fire observers and was assigned to Dickinson from 1943 to 1965 to call in signs of fire in that heavily forested region.
Helen Ellett, top, sight down her orienteering equipment in the cabin atop the Dickinson Fire Tower at Grafton Lakes State Park.
According to Linda Laveway, Ellett’s granddaughter and another participant in Grafton’s oral history project, Ellett was a staunchly independent woman. Long days in the tower were no deterrent for Helen who felt pride every time she raised the American flag, knowing that through her work, she would be helping to save people’s livelihoods and possibly their very lives.
Helen Ellett was one of five women hired to be fire observers at Grafton between 1942 and its closing in 1972. When Ellett was hired in 1943 at age 29, she earned $100 a month, and was a young mother with a daughter. She usually rode one of her horses eight miles to work from where she lived in Grafton. At the tower, she was kept company by her dog, Tippy, and for a short time, her pet raccoon, Soggy.
Tippy and Soggy enjoy a moment.
Helen Ellett and her trusty ride to work.
In 1965, she wrote about her experiences in an article titled “Sitting on Top of the World,” in which she described her initial training by a ranger to use spotting equipment to estimate the location of a potential fire. When she returned to the tower the next day alone and began to climb, she had to “admit the 81 steps seemed like Jacob’s ladder going to heaven … I finally reached the top and tried to open the lock with one hand to hang on with the other; I have never looked but I would not be surprised if my fingers left imprints on the steel railing. That was a long time ago. After a few trips up and down, I didn’t mind at all.”
In her last year of service in the tower in 1965, Ellett reported nine fires and 209 visitors to the towers. At that time, she was earning $122.09 bi-weekly.
After being shuttered for years, the Dickinson Fire Tower was restored by the Friends of Grafton Lakes State Park and reopened in 2012, giving visitors the sweeping vistas that Ellett and other fire observers had. Now a popular hike at the park, the tower was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011 and is the last remaining fire tower in the county.
Helen Ellett, bottom center, helps cut the ribbon at the 2012 reopening of the fire tower to the public.
A visitor takes in the view at the fire tower.
How quickly 50 years have passed since opening day of the beach and park! Grafton Lakes park has now expanded to include more than 2,500 acres, 25 miles of trails, and six lakes, along with a new Welcome Center. The park spans both sides of Route 2 and is a favored place for kayakers, canoeists, and those who like to fish.
Amenities also include biking, boat launches and rentals, equestrian trails, fishing, hunting, pavilions and shelter rentals, playgrounds, and showers, During winter months, there is snowmobiling, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.
Over the last decade, about a quarter-million people a year annually have visited the park, so over five decades, totaling many millions of visits since 1971.
There is something for everyone at Grafton Lakes, no matter the season. Check out this slideshow below for some ideas…
With so many visitors and so many memories, Parks staff at Grafton is encouraging those who want to participate to come forward and share these tales for posterity in a mini-movie that will debut on the park’s beach the evening July 1st to mark the 50th anniversary. The event that day will also include an art gallery, historical walks, a photo scrapbook, and interpretive panels.
Those who want to visit the Dickinson fire tower will have a chance to meet Linda Laveway, take in the dramatic view, and learn more about her grandmother and the days of the fire observers. Retired, Linda still resides in Grafton and is an active member of the community.
Park staff will hold video interviews for anyone with Grafton memories during April and May. To participate in the oral history project or any 50th anniversary activity, contact the park by email: graftonlakesadmin@parks.ny.gov or phone: 518-279-1155.
You can follow Grafton Lakes State Park on Facebook here. Hope to see you there July 1st as we look back over the last 50 years and make new memories for the years to come!
Cover shot – Kayakers paddle past the beach at Grafton Lakes State Park. All photos by NYS Parks.
Post by Tamara Beal, Environmental Educator, Grafton Lakes State Park
Grafton Lake State Park is holding an event May 1 for I Love My Park Day. Find details here.
Learn more about the history of the Dickinson Fire Tower at Grafton Lakes State Park here..
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