New York's Best State Parks

Jones Beach State Park (Long Island Region)
Jones Beach State Park, with more than six miles of white sand Atlantic and bay beaches and a two-mile-long boardwalk, is Long Island’s most popular state park destination. Jones Beach is famed for its 14,000-seat concert amphitheater, Olympic-size swimming pools, pitch-putt golf course, deck games areas, birding, fishing, boating, and the Boardwalk Restaurant, which features spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean. Newly-constructed lighted beach-volleyball courts, the Long Island State Parks historical exhibit “Castles In the Sand,” and the soon-to-be-opened Theodore Roosevelt Nature Center are the most recent additions to this world-renowned New York State Park.

Niagara Reservation State Park (Niagara Region)
The heart of Niagara Reservation State Park is spectacular Niagara Falls, one of the wonders of the world. The park offers many perspectives of the falls. The bridge at the Observation Tower arcs over the Niagara River for an eye-level look, and an elevator in the tower rises 100 feet for a panoramic view of the American and Canadians falls. Also, visitors can descend by elevator to the base of the falls to experience the roar and rumble of the water or to take the Maid of the Mist boat tour to the Horseshoe Falls. The open-air Viewmobile takes visitors to nearby vistas including Luna Island overlooking the Bridal Veil Falls, Terrapin Point overlooking the Horseshoe Falls and the Scheollkopf Geological Museum, which chronicles the creation of the falls.

Riverbank SP
courtesy of NY State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

Riverbank State Park (New York City Region)
Riverbank State Park, located on the Hudson River on West 145 St. in Harlem, has been called “an urban treasure,” and “the most striking and best-equipped park in the city and maybe the world.” The entire 28-acre multi-use recreation area sits on the roof of a wastewater treatment plant. The pedestrian promenade 70 feet above the Hudson offers strollers spectacular views of the George Washington Bridge, the New Jersey Palisades, the Hudson River and lower Manhattan. The park has grassy picnic areas, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, artificial turf playing fields, tennis and basketball courts and an ice-skating rink. Varied and well-attended recreational programs include synchronized swimming, fencing, dancing and a full roster of team sports. Riverbank State Park is the only park of its kind in the western hemisphere, which its neighborhood has embraced as a center of culture, arts and recreation.

Saratoga Spa SP
courtesy of NY State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

Saratoga Spa State Park (Capital/Saratoga Region)
Classical architecture distinguishes the park, earning it listing as a National Historic Landmark. Gently sloped lawns, elegant covered arcades, shady streamside trails and abundant picnic areas enhance its appeal. The park’s world-renowned mineral waters continue to bubble forth; baths and massages are available year-round in the Lincoln Bathhouse. Among the park’s diverse recreational resources are an 18-hole championship golf course and a 9-hole executive course; certified 5- and 10-kilometer running courses; the Olympic-sized Peerless Pool; the classic Victoria Pool Complex; outdoor ice skating and ice hockey rinks; hard surface and clay tennis courts, and 20 kilometers of cross-country ski trails. Culturally, Saratoga Spa State Park is also noted for the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the Spa Little Theater and the nearby Hall of Springs, the National Museum of Dance and the Gideon Putnam Hotel.

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