Trail Tales will be a series for Country Culture this summer revisiting a project Managing Editor Andy Haman worked on in 2021 – and hopefully expanding on it by visiting and/or profiling other state parks in the Capital region, Mohawk Valley and Herkimer County areas.
Back in 2021, Country Culture was still a new idea. Though the population at large was still navigating the pandemic, our region of New York State had made it through the worst of things. Upstate was beginning (very slowly) to come back to life.
At that point, we were an entirely digital publication and needed content. Continuing COVID restrictions on events meant that some of the normal fare – fairs, field days, livestock shows and the like – hadn’t returned. One night after work, I pulled into a parking spot at the Thomas Burbine Forest Natural Trail in Sprakers, NY. And the rest was history.
By the time summer was over, I had visited Burbine, the Owen D. Young Nature Trail (in Jordanville), Wintergreen Park (in Canajoharie), Willie Wildlife Marsh (in Gloversville), Betty & Wilbur Davis State Park (in Schenevus) and Thacher State Park (in Vorheesville) – among others.
My goal? To promote getting outdoors – and enjoying the natural beauty of the Upstate.
There’s just something about getting out there, boots on the ground and connecting with the earth. Breathing the crisp, clear air. There’s nothing like it.
“From the shores of Long Island to the mighty Niagara Falls, New York’s 180 state parks offer countless opportunities to explore your natural environment,” the NYS Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation site says. This summer, we’ll revisit some that I checked off my list in 2021 and check out some new additions as well.
(A list of parks in the current Country Culture circulation area is at the bottom of this article. We encourage you to check them out for yourselves!)
John Thacher State Park was a late addition to my list. I’d set aside that day to film a video but hadn’t decided 100% on a location at that point. It was one of the top Google search results and so that morning, I said “Why not?”
I wasn’t prepared for what awaited me. The view from the overlook is transcendent. One can see for miles, unencumbered. That morning in late summer, the valley was ablaze with vivid greens and blues and the yellow glow of sunshine glittering off the mountains. “‘Cliffs Higher Than the Palisades’ was just one of the superlatives used to describe John Boyd Thacher State Park after its acquisition in 1914,” a quote from the park site reads. “It was also extolled as a paradise for geologists and acclaimed for its precipitous cliffs and magnificent prospects. Enthusiasts declared its scenery unsurpassed, even in the Adirondacks.”
You can read about the park’s benefactors (and namesakes) John Boyd and Emma Treadwell Thacher here. They – and the parkland – have had an interesting history.
The map description notes, “Thacher State Park is situated along the Helderberg Escarpment, one of the richest fossil-bearing formations in the world. Even as it safeguards six miles of limestone cliff-face, rock-strewn slopes, woodland and open fields, the park provides a marvelous panorama of the Hudson-Mohawk Valleys and the Adirondack and Green Mountains. Interpretive programs are offered year-round, including guided tours of the famous Indian Ladder Trail” (which works its way down the cliffside; this is what I hiked). “There are over 25 additional miles of trails for summer hiking and mountain biking, and winter cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking and snowmobiling.”
The park has many amenities and features. In addition to the trail system, there are campsites, cabins and lodging, grill sites, rentable pavilions and shelters, hunting access, the Nature Center, playgrounds and playing fields, snowmobile, snowshoe and cross-country skiing access, to name a few.
The park also allows sport climbing with the appropriate permitting paperwork.
Access is just $6 per vehicle, with bus tour rates available as well.
You ready to hit the trail? We hope so!
Here are some of the NYS parks within a one- to two-hour drive of our Country Culture headquarters:
Max V. Shaul State Park (Fultonham)
Mine Kill State Park (North Blenheim)
Betty & Wilbur Davis State Park (Schenevus)
Canadarago State Marine Park (Richfield Springs)
Gilbert Lake State Park (Laurens)
Glimmerglass State Park (Cooperstown)
Robert V. Riddell State Park (Davenport)
Delta Lake State Park (Rome)
Pixley Falls State Park (Boonville)
Verona Beach State Park (Verona Beach)
Charles E. Baker State Forest (Hubbardsville)
Green Lakes State Park (Fayetteville)
