Camping at our 100-plus campgrounds is the ultimate affordable getaway option, but it’s so much more than just a money saver. Camping connects you to nature and allows you to unplug in ways you just can’t replicate on a day trip. While some of our campgrounds are well-known statewide, others are unsung outside their immediate area, their natural beauty and ecological significance waiting to be discovered. As you plan your summer, get up to speed on camping guidance and consider these seven often-overlooked New York State Parks campgrounds for your next great stay.
Continue reading New York State Parks’ Best-Kept Secrets: Seven Campgrounds Worthy of Your SummerTag Archives: wellesley island state park
The Women Of New York State Parks
If you’ve ever drifted off to sleep at Betty and Wilbur Davis State Park or gone to a nature program at Minna Anthony Common Nature Center and wondered about their namesakes, this post is for you! During Women’s History Month, let’s explore the stories of writers, activists, politicians, and ordinary women who have lent their names to state parks and nature centers.
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State Golf Courses Are In The Swing
When you think of golf and New York State Parks, the first thing that probably comes to mind is Bethpage Black. It was well known on Long Island for decades but rose to prominence worldwide when the USGA brought its signature tournament, the U.S. Open, to “the people’s country club” 22 years ago.
A fellow you may have heard of, Tiger Woods, was victorious that year when he was at the peak of his powers – his eighth Major victory (he currently has 15). He and the U.S. Open came back to Bethpage seven years later for a soggy slugfest that ended on a muddy Monday. It was a journeyman named Lucas Glover who held off Woods and the rest of the elite field, winning his one and only Major title. A decade later, Bethpage Black hosted another Major tournament, the PGA Championship, won by Brooks Koepka. And next year, 2025, it will host an event unlike anything ever experienced there – the 2025 Ryder Cup.
But this post isn’t about that much-anticipated international competition, although they are already preparing. This is about all the great golf opportunities State Parks has around New York.
Continue reading State Golf Courses Are In The Swing
Sweet Dreams: Explore State Parks’ Remote Islands, Cabins, Resorts and More
When it comes to planning a vacation or getaway, New York State Parks has overnight options for all kinds of adventures – and budgets!
While some enjoy sleeping in tents away from it all in remote, natural settings under the stars, others crave a few more amenities. Whether you prefer booking rustic cabins and bringing your RV, staying in fully equipped cottages, or resting your head at a historic inn or resort with the comforts of home, State Parks has something for everyone.
Our Parks system includes 8,148 campsites, 967 cabins and cottages, 18 yurts, three inns, and – yes – a lighthouse. There are countless adventures for every type of stay. Get a map handy and explore highlights from some of our most interesting properties to inspire your next stay.
La Isla Bonita
If you have a boat or have access to renting one, answer the siren song of the water and consider the benefits of staying on one of three island parks in the Thousand Islands that are only accessible by boat.
- Canoe Point, Cedar Island, and Mary Island State Parks offer a quiet camping experience with plenty of dock space for a one-of-a-kind island excursion.
Who’s On Deck?
Why worry about clearing your campsite for the tent when you can enjoy a level platform? Platform camping provides a wooden deck floor for pitching your tent on a smoother and more even surface.
- Many campgrounds across the state have platforms including Harriman and Lake Taghkanic State Parks in the Hudson Valley.
Cabins and Cottages and a Lighthouse (Oh My!)
The perfect place for a family reunion on the Great Lakes? Check. Lakefront luxe in the Finger Lakes for a bachelorette wine-tasting weekend? Check. Thousand Islands waterfront cabin for anglers telling fish tales about the day’s catch? Check. Memories to last a lifetime? Check, check, check.
- Robert Wehle State Park features a private setting that accommodates eight, and includes a compound with a main house, guest quarters, studio, and formal gardens set cliffside along the Lake Ontario shorefront.
- Fans of America’s pastime can stay at a cottage at Betty and Wilbur Davis State Park near Cooperstown and head to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, then go old school and listen to a game on the radio from the cottage’s front porch.
Be a Voyageur!
Since the 1980s, there has been a 36-foot long, 16 passenger (plus two staff), fiberglass Voyageur canoe at the Minna Anthony Common Nature Center in Wellesley Island State Park. No one really knows where the canoe came from or exactly what year it arrived, but there are a few stories told about its origins. Some say there used to be five Voyageur canoes located in parks along the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario and some say the canoe was made by NYS Parks’ employees. Ultimately, the mystery of its origin is part of its mystique. What they will say is that every summer for about the last 30 years park visitors and Nature Center staff have headed out on daily trips in our canoe to learn about the history of the Voyageurs and to explore the ecology of Eel Bay, the Narrows, and Escanaba Bay.
Voyageur canoe trips leave the Nature Center docks at 9 am and return at 11 am, but there is plenty for staff to do before anyone ever steps foot into the boat. If it has rained, staff must bail the canoe and dry the wooden seats for passengers.
They also move the boat into place on the docks so it is ready for the day. When that day’s voyageurs come down to the dock house they are fitted with personal floatation devices (PFD’s) and paddles while being taught about the fundamentals of paddling before heading out to the canoe. Loading the canoe with passengers can be quite tricky, as people who are likely to be stronger paddlers must be strategically positioned in the boat and the canoe must be balanced on the water to safely leave the docks. Once the canoe is balanced and its passengers comfortable, staff jump in at the bow (front) and stern (back) and slowly steer the boat out into Eel Bay.
The staff member sitting at the bow of the boat begins the interpretation as the large boat gets underway. They talk about how the canoe weighs 1,000 pounds empty and how it is made of fiberglass. As the passengers paddle, they discuss the importance of Eel Bay as a large, shallow water bay on the St. Lawrence. Then conversation shifts to the Voyageurs who were part of the French fur trading companies that existed in the 18th and 19th centuries. The interpreter weaves a tale about the adventures Voyageurs had as they transported furs, predominately beaver, from Montreal to trading posts along the shores of Lake Superior. As the boat rounds the sharp turn into the Narrows passengers learn what a day in the life of a Voyageur was like, from what they ate to how they were paid. The staff member sitting in the stern who has been quietly working to steer the boat will ease it to a stop as the canoe coasts into Escanaba Bay. Passengers will spend a little time admiring the plentiful water lilies that dot the bay before reversing course and heading back towards the Nature Center. On the return trip to our docks, some time is dedicated to floating along in silence, taking in the sights and sounds of the majestic St. Lawrence River.
The canoe had begun to show its age in recent years but last winter Pat Snyder of River Restorations, a local boat restoration company, beautifully restored it to top condition. A few sections of the gunnels were replaced, the gunnels and seats sanded down and refinished, the seats reinforced to help prevent deflection when people are stepping into the boat, and the fiberglass shell was repainted. The canoe once again looks majestic and is ready to go out on the water!
Each July and August, look for the return of our sleek Voyageur canoe to the Nature Center’s dock. For just $4 (anyone over 13) or $2 (under 13) you can join staff from the Nature Center on a memorable journey on smooth waters, travelling the shorelines of Wellesley Island.
For information on upcoming trips, please visit our Facebook page (Minna Anthony Common Nature Center- Friends). To have enough paddle power to steer the boat, we must have at least 8 people over the age of 18 on board. To reserve a spot on a trip, please call the Nature Center at 315-482-2479.
Post by Molly Farrell, July 2018
Learn more about Voyaguers:
Durbin, William; The Broken Paddle; Delacorte Press, NY, 1997.
Ernst, Kathleen; The Trouble and Fort La Point; Pleasant Company Publications, Middleton, WI, 2000.
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