Movie stars, rappers, presidents, jam bands, television shows, and tragedies. The many connections to American culture – old and new – are one of the great things about one of NY’s greatest assets – the state park system.
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation maintains for public use, oversees and champions more than 250 parks, historic sites, recreational trails, golf courses, and boat launches across 360,000 acres.
Amtrak, the nation’s railroad, also plays a pivotal role in connecting individuals with the New York State Parks system. Rail stations that serve Amtrak’s Empire Service line offer quick access to state parks and state historic sites, each of which showcases a singular and compelling period of New York State history.
These stations and sites include:
- Staatsburgh State Historic Site, Staatsburg, accessible from the Amtrak station in Rhinecliff
- Crailo State Historic Site, Rensselaer, accessible from the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak Station
- Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga Springs, accessible from the Amtrak station in Saratoga Springs
- Green Lakes State Park, Fayetteville, accessible from the Amtrak station in Syracuse
- Darwin Martin House State Historic Site, Buffalo, accessible from the Amtrak station in Buffalo
- Niagara Falls State Park, Niagara Falls, accessible from the Niagara Falls, New York, Amtrak station
New York State Parks officials saw a record 84 million visits in 2023. And in 2024, New York State Parks is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the state’s parks and historic sites system.
“Conservation was a prevailing theme during State Parks’ infancy,” reads a timeline accessible through parks.ny.gov. “As New York industrialized during this era, many natural resources and places of historic significance came under the threat of development. In 1850, New York State acquired the nation’s first state historic site, Washington’s Headquarters in Newburgh.”
Critical to the transformation of New York State through the development of its parks system was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC was a Works Progress Administration program created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was born, lived and is buried in Hyde Park, Dutchess County.
According to the Annual Report for the Year 1942 from the New York State Conservation Department, the following were among the most important projects completed by the CCC over the course of its nine years in action:
“Truck trails, 393 miles; truck trail bridges, 73; dams, 63; fencing, 145,000 rods; pipe and tile lines, 131,991 feet; water supply systems, 80; table and bench combinations, 2,600; signs and markers, 4,000; stream and lake bank protection, 11,000 sq. yds.; tree-planting, 180,000 acres; forest fire fighting, 58,151 man-days; tree and plant disease control, 1,100,000 acres; tree insect pest control, 3,700,000 acres; fish rearing ponds, 107; fish-stocking, 346,000 fish; stream development, 234 miles.”
Illustrating these numbers in particular and NY State Parks as a whole is Staatsburgh State Historic Site in Staatsburg, Dutchess County. Staatsburgh is the former country home of Ogden Mills and his wife, Ruth Livingston Mills, whose neighbors were the Roosevelts and the Vanderbilts of Hyde Park to the south, and the Astors of Rhinebeck to the north. All four families and their luxurious properties were beacons of the nation’s Gilded Age, when exorbitant wealth paid homage to European design.
Staatsburgh State Historic Site
Nearest Amtrak Station: Rhinecliff – Kingston (RHI)
Touring the mansion at Staatsburgh State Historic Site, accessible from Rhinecliff Amtrak station after a mere 13-minute Uber ride, had me utterly transfixed. I felt as thought I had been transformed into characters from my two favorite streaming series—”Downtown Abbey” and “The Crown.”
As I moved from room to room, through hallways and up and down staircases, I felt that at any moment I would run into the “Downton Abbey” patriarch, Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham; his daughter, Lady Mary Crawley; or any one of the several versions of Queen Elizabeth—portrayed by actresses Claire Foy, Imelda Staunton and Olivia Colman—featured in “The Crown.”
But instead of traversing “The Abbey,” as it was called, or Buckingham Palace, I found myself roaming in awe through the stylish, refined and distinguished country home that Ogden and Ruth shared.
“Staatsburgh State Historic Site is the elegant country home of Ogden Mills and his wife Ruth Livingston Mills,” reads parks.ny.gov. “Overlooking the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains, Staatsburgh is a fine example of a great estate built by America’s financial and industrial leaders during the Gilded Age (1876 – 1917). Also known as the American Renaissance, this period in American history was marked by America’s rapid economic growth and emergence as a world power.
“Darius Ogden Mills, father of Ogden Mills, established the family fortune by investing in banks, railroads and mines. Ogden Mills, like his father, was a noted financier and philanthropist. In 1882 he married Ruth Livingston, whose family had been prominent landowners in the Hudson Valley since the 17th century. In 1890, Ruth Livingston Mills inherited her childhood home and property which had once belonged to her great-grandfather, Morgan Lewis, the third governor of New York State.”
And, oh yeah, it’s worth mentioning that Ogden Mills and Ruth Livingston Mills had booked passage on the Titanic—its return trip from New York, that is—for the sea voyage that never was.
From the servants’ dining room, and kitchen with an industrial stove in the basement—as well as an iron and ironing board used to flatten the daily newspaper—Staatsburgh offers a living testament to state history and what many of us thought we’d only see on our living room flat screens.
Depending on your perspective, the bedrooms, boudoir, library, portraits, Ming vases, original bath towels, carpets and tapestries are either ornate and elegant or over-the-top and ostentatious. Whatever your opinion, it’s irrelevant as to the “why” of New York State preserving this historic gem.
The Gilded Age was a pivotal period of American history and you can learn all about it—along with the New Yorkers who established this era—with a trip on Amtrak through New York’s Hudson Valley.
Crailo State Historic Site
Nearest Amtrak Station: Albany – Rensselaer (ALB)
To say that Crailo State Historic Site sits on an unassuming street in an unassuming Rensselaer neighborhood could be the biggest understatement since, well, 1707.
That’s the year that a 1930s state restoration of the building, originally a part of the vast landholding called the Manor, or Patroonship, of Rensselaerswyck, strives to evoke.
It’s a quirky twist on the site, a museum dedicated to telling the tale of early Dutch inhabitants of the upper Hudson Valley. You might even say that this 1707-1930s hodgepodge of a restoration reflects the mosaic of America, its melting pot origins and how it has all come together across more than 250 years.
A 20-minute walk or 5-minute Uber ride from Albany-Rensselaer Station will get you to Crailo, whose property offers Hudson River access that gives a chance to catch one’s breath while enjoying the breeze and the view.
Along the northern side of the brick building is a narrow, lush and welcoming garden. But one must step inside to enjoy this celebration and analysis of the role that the Dutch played in the history of New York and the nation.
Many are familiar with the tale of the Dutch purchasing Manhattan from Native Americans, and how explorer Henry Hudson, hired by the Dutch, plied the Hudson River in his ship, the Half Moon.
But the details of Crailo—windows, doorways, hallways, ceilings, rooms, furniture, fireplaces—flesh out this history with dimension, a vibe, storytelling and a sense of place. And then there are the exhibits, which offer a closer look at a range of topics, including the Dutch role in the slave trade; the daily life of early Dutch settlers; and the fur trade.
I love live music.
I love concerts, I love the road trips taken to concerts and I love the rush of adrenaline triggered by those magical moments of harmony, chemistry and synergy that emerge between performer and audience.
I also love the venues that host the concerts.
From Frost Amphitheater at Stanford University in the Bay Area to Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina and Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, the character and personality of music venues have added plenty to my live music adventures.
One of my favorite venues, for decades, has been Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), inside Saratoga Spa State Park, in beautiful, charming and historic Saratoga Springs. If you want to get a sense of my wide musical tastes, just consider that bands I have seen at SPAC include the Grateful Dead, The Lumineers, Dan Fogelberg, Phil Collins, Bob Dylan, Santana, Phish, the Allman Brothers and Ringo Starr.
Located on what I would consider the fringe of the Capital Region, and the gateway to the Adirondack Mountains, Saratoga Spa State Park is, quite simply, a gem.
Accessible from the Amtrak stop in Saratoga Springs—a seven-minute Uber ride—Saratoga Spa State Park features lush evergreen trees, wide, lush lawns, mineral springs, walking paths, picnic areas and running courses and streams.
The park is home to:
- The Spa Little Theater
- National Museum of Dance
- Saratoga Automobile Museum
- Gideon Putnam Resort
- Roosevelt Baths and Spa
- Peerless Pool Complex
- Victoria Pool
- Saratoga Children’s Museum
Aside from concerts at SPAC, my favorite destination within Saratoga Spa State Park is the Geyser Trail along Geyser Creek. Yes, there is a geyser; as well as rocks that appear to be of lunar nature, lawns for reclining and a path for strolling.
And I am very glad to have experienced first-hand the Roosevelt Baths, a historic hydrotherapy spa with naturally effervescent mineral waters.
According to gideonputnam.com, the baths are, “…One of the only places on earth where gravity can be lifted away from you, taking with it your worries, aches and pains…”
Having soaked my tired bones in these mineral bath waters, I can attest to the accuracy of this statement. It was simply divine and left me feeling like I had spent hours at the beach. Thank you, Saratoga Spa State Park!
Green Lakes State Park
Nearest Amtrak Station: Syracuse (SYR)
A 20-minute Uber ride from the Amtrak station in Syracuse, Green Lakes State Park lives up to its name with stunning and shimmering water that is as deep a green as you will ever see in the great outdoors.
Home to two glacial lakes surrounded by upland forest, Green Lakes State Park affords the kind of solitude and release from burden that only a public park—only a New York State Park, for that matter—can offer.
Sure, Green Lakes offers plenty of amenities that, on paper, paint the perfect picture of what this destination has to offer, including:
- Biking
- Boat Rentals
- Campsites, cabins and lodging
- Golfing
- Disc golf
- Fishing
- Food
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Pavilions and Shelters
- Playgrounds
- Showers
- Beach
But Green Lakes also has an expansiveness to it that can really only be appreciated in person. There is room to breathe, exhale, stretch and saunter around. Green Lakes creates a space for you to downshift from fifth to first gear without any rumbles or roars.
I was feeling most adventurous during my visit so brought along my tent, sleeping bag and backpack for an evening of camping. I was very glad to enjoy a cozy campsite with fire pit and picnic table, as well as the camaraderie of like-minded campers seeking respite in a night beneath the stars.
Located just 11 minutes away by Uber from the Amtrak station in Buffalo, the Darwin Martin House State Historic Site carries architectural, economic and civic history for the State of New York.
How notable is the Darwin Martin House?
Completed in 1905 by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, this residential estate emerged as one of the architect’s most important works and examples of his cutting-edge approach to design. The seminal Prairie House is a rare Wright design that incorporates numerous structures for an extended family.
And the Martin family was no ordinary family.
Darwin Martin was a top executive for the Larkin Soap Company, a rapidly expanding soap and mail order concern at the turn of the 19th century. The company left such an impact on Buffalo that the neighborhood it occupied is called Larkinville, now a hip spot in the city home to food trucks, restaurants and breweries.
Martin’s vision for his home, executed by Wright, included an incomparable main house along with a conservatory, garage-stable, connecting pergola, and separate house for Martin’s sister and brother-in-law.
The Martin House today has been restored to its 1907 glory—with six buildings and extensively landscaped grounds and gardens; as well as an interpretive visitor center; museum store; and cafe. A gardener’s cottage was added to the estate in 1909.
niagara falls state park
Nearest Amtrak Station: Niagara Falls (NFL)
America’s oldest state park, Niagara Falls State Park is without question one of the most well-known, iconic, romantic and adventuresome destinations on planet Earth.
From its legendary status as a honeymoon spot to those daredevils who rode the falls in a barrel, Niagara Falls remains an enduring presence in the pages of history.
And then there is this.
“When you’re here at Niagara Falls State Park, you’re actually up in it,” said Angela Berti, Director of Public Affairs, Niagara Region. “You’re next to it, you’re in it, you’re around it.”
The Maid of the Mist boat delivers a roundtrip expedition into the churning waters of the American and Horseshoe Falls. Luna Island places visitors in the middle of the Niagara River. And the Three Sisters Islands are also accessible and situated in the river.
“You’re getting the mist, you’re feeling it, you’re hearing it,” Berti said. “All of your senses are engaged at Niagara Falls State Park. You really get up close and personal. You’re immersed and embedded.”
Accessible from the Amtrak station in Niagara Falls, New York, by way of a free shuttle, Niagara Falls State Park is a place that most New Yorkers are familiar with.
But there is plenty going on here that you might not be aware of. Did you know that this state park:
- Opened in 1885.
- Draws 9 million visitors annually.
- Comprises 400 acres.
- Is home to three waterfalls—Horseshoe (Canadian) Falls, American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.
- Features a bike trail and hiking trails.
- Was built off a design envisioned by famed architect Frederic Law Olmstead, who designed New York City’s Central Park.
- Has received $800 million in state funding over the last 15 years.
- Offers views of Canada.
- Is where an episode of the television show “The Office” was filmed; is a favorite place to visit for rapper Flavor Flav; is where actress Kate Hudson once brought her children while filming a movie in nearby Buffalo; and was where daredevil Nick Wallenda walked on a high-wire above the rushing falls.
And long a fabled honeymoon spot, Niagara Falls State Park these days is home to numerous weddings.
Also, the Cave of the Winds “World Changed Here” Pavilion allows visitors to navigate beneath the American Falls, to the famous Hurricane Deck, while surrounded by the thundering cascade of water that has surrendered to gravity.
But please, please, please, leave your barrels at home. The falls offer plenty in terms of sights and sounds, with no need to experience the splash.
Experience the grandeur of the New York State Parks with ease with the help of Amtrak. Amtrak stations are in close proximity to several of the parks and sites! Don’t forget to use the See New York and Save 15% discount.
