Spring season is photo season! Whether you’re capturing prom or graduation photos, scouting locations for wedding photos, thinking ahead to your Christmas cards, or just looking to refresh your social feeds, it’s the perfect time of year to get out there with your camera or cell phone. Read on for location inspiration in various categories—truly one-of-a-kind locations, waterfalls, iconic New York visuals, design-focused areas, and more!—and get professional photography tips from our State Parks photographer and videographer.
Continue reading Shoot Like a Pro at Parks and Historic Sites’ Most Instagrammable SpotsTag Archives: nature
Tapping New York’s Maple Heritage
In New York, spring means maple! Maple syrup and sugar are key agricultural products in New York and part of the state’s heritage. Many of our state parks and historic sites offer maple programs during the late winter and early spring. The last two weekends of March are Maple Weekends in New York, when producers large and small invite the public to see the process and sample some syrup. In this post, we’ll not only tell you how maple syrup is made, but uncover its past as a symbol of American independence and of the anti-slavery movement.
From Sap To Syrup
Making maple syrup has a lengthy tradition in Northeastern North America. Long before anyone wrote about it, Native Americans gathered sap from cuts made in maple trees that they boiled to concentrate the sugar. Once Europeans arrived in North America, they too began collecting sap and boiling it in large pots, evaporating the water to make syrup and sugar.
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“Shifting Baselines:” Traveling The Tides Of Time At Hamlin Beach State Park’s Yanty Marsh Trail
At the western edge of Hamlin Beach State Park, beyond a row of trees, is Yanty Marsh Trail. The trail loops through a deciduous (broadleaf) forest along the lake, pausing to overlook a large marsh and winding beneath the canopy of a white pine grove. In the fall, beech leaves paint the sky in their wistful yellow hues as the birdsongs of spring and summer slowly grow fainter. Chipmunks gather their last nuts for the winter and the mystical great blue heron observes overhead. The white pines stand stoic among the falling leaves. As chilly mornings and early sunsets lure the marsh into slumber, the world stalls. The 65 acres of Yanty Marsh are released from the sweltering days of summer, the balance of the seasons returning.
A hundred years ago, this scene looked different. With each freeze and thaw of the marsh, the stories of its past fade alongside time. An area once deforested and at risk of disappearing, the marsh and surrounding land have transformed over the past hundred years into the deciduous trail and marsh so many enjoy today.
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An Update on the Rare ‘Chitt’ Snail from Staff Snailblazers
From the sculpted drumlins of Chimney Bluffs to the majesty of Niagara Falls, each of our parks are memorable in their own way. But Chittenango Falls State Park has something you’ll find nowhere else on earth: the Chittenango Ovate Amber Snail, or Novisuccinea chittenangoensis.
First discovered in 1905, the Chittenango Ovate Amber Snail (known to its friends as “COAS” or “Chitt”) is what scientists call an endemic species, meaning it’s found in only one place. While this makes COAS a very special snail, it also makes it a very vulnerable snail. Flooding, drought, climate change, invasive species, and human activity threaten the small snail colony and its habitat. Never very numerous, the colony numbered only about 70 individuals during the 2023 census.
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Centennial Reflections and Future Promises
What a year we’ve had! From kicking off our Centennial in the outdoors with First Day Hikes, to lighting up New York on the official anniversary in April, to birthday bashes hosted at state parks and historic sites all summer long, it’s certainly been a year to remember. Visitors from near and far joined in on the festivities and participated in the different activities to help us celebrate.
Take a look at our year-in-review video that recaps all the fun we’ve had this year.
Still want to celebrate with us? Here’s a more in-depth look back at all the excitement we’ve had with you by our sides.
Continue reading Centennial Reflections and Future Promises
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