Visited here on a whim while looking for a new playground to venture to, and it turned out to be a…read moregreat choice! I love that's it's nestled in a neighborhood (how fun to live in one of the houses across the street and have a playground right across the street!) and we chatted with several people who come here regularly. Playground looked like it was newly built and had lots of fun sections to it with a "castle/dragon" theme. A few benches and picnic tables are available as well as a big basketball court. I did take one star off for no official bathroom-- there is a porta potty which will work in a pinch, but a playground can't be 5 stars without a real bathroom. Aside from that, everything here was great. Also has a cute little free library which my daughter was very happy to pick out a book for the trip home.

A great park for picnics and hiking A lot of good scenery,…read morefree parking There is a bathroom building but there's no running water, no soap & like an oven on a sunny day

Cute and relatively easy hike! It's likely "lightly moderate" as it has some steep incline and…read morerocks at points. It can be a bit tricky to navigate the turns but if you pull up your GPS in the All Trails app it's easy enough. This trail has free parking near the trailhead, restrooms, and a cookout pavilion. It's a little over 1.2 miles total and follows a circular loop. There are a few small rivers with bridges to cross, a pretty lookout and of course the main waterfall. The trail is dog friendly as well. I've seen more beautiful views but this is very nice for the area.

Green Lakes is such a beautiful place. Love walking around the 2 lakes, such a quiet and peaceful…read morewalk. Lots of walking trails, campground, kayak rentals and swimming. Everyone should go to Green Lakes at least once, Highly Recommend !!

While renewing my Empire Pass last year at a local state park, I chatted with the ranger about…read morefavorite ones throughout the state. When he learned that I had been to over 100 of them but hadn't been to Green Lakes he urged me to check that one off the list pronto. And you know how that goes: when someone tells you how great something is, that place suddenly starts popping up more and more in your social feeds. Well, after seeing it featured on the socials for I Love NY and NYS Parks, I finally made the trip to Central New York outside of Syracuse (wait, I can call Syracuse "Central New York" on here, right? :) ), and I was not disappointed at all. My visit was early on an October Saturday, and lots of runners and walkers were around. And a fair amount of ducks too. A mostly level 2.5-mile loop around Green Lake and another mile-ish loop around practically adjacent Round Lake (which is also a Registered National Landmark) made for a wonderful morning stroll. I was just walking and taking pictures, but clearly this is a spot where runners meet and get in a workout together. The lakes are beautiful, and, yeah, have an emerald-green glow at times. I'm really glad I made the trip there, and will definitely revisit one day.

$6 entrance fee. Park has beach access to Oneida lake. Swimming is available during the summer…read more Lots of places to hang out and bbq or have family reunions, picnics or just a birthday party for groups of all sizes. Ample parking for most days. Sometimes in the summer months there is blue-green algae which causes the swimming area to be closed. Website normally will indicate this so check ahead if you are set on going swimming. This summer they had an inflatable slide so there was something for the kiddos to do besides swimming. All in all a nice park if you are in the area. Camping is available as well so you can camp out here and spend more time if that is in your plan.

I recently went on a weekend long camping trip with my father and stayed at the Verona Beach State…read morePark in upstate New York. My pops, who is now retired, purchased a recreational vehicle and has embraced camping as his new favorite past time. He has asked me several times to join him on an excursion and though I'm not very outdoorsy I finally relented. We pulled into Verona State Park on a Friday afternoon and even though it was early September and nearing the end of the season, the campground was still fairly crowded. The snack bar and store closed after Labor Day but I spent most of my time at the nearby Turning Stone Casino and didn't mind missing out on a few amenities. The park was immaculate, with clean shower rooms and nary a piece of litter in sight. The employees at Verona Beach obviously took their job very seriously and some were a tad overzealous. The workers frequently drove through the campgrounds, patrolling the area and enforcing their rules. I took a walk alongside Oneida Lake after dark and apparently violated one of the sacred rules, receiving a stern warning from the park ranger. I understand why camps only allow power generators during certain hours; gennies can often be noisy and we should preserve the sanctity of nature. On Saturday night we were caught in the middle of a thunderstorm and it rained for hours. I expected the rangers to be a little more lax on generator hours during the storm, when most campers are stuck inside and need electric to power their televisions and stave off boredom. The television in our RV only picked up local channels so we watched an old episode of Wonder Woman featuring special guest star Leif Garrett. Even during a downpour the rangers at Verona State ruled with an iron first, banging on the door of the RV like an angry police officer all because our generator was left on for a few extra minutes.

Came for some exercise after spending the prior day in the car driving to upstate NY. There are…read moremultiple trails. I'm not an experienced hiker so I would say I'd prefer more signage or trail markers but overall a beautiful location! Parking was plentiful and there is a pay station at multiple ends of the lot.

What a beautiful spot for a quick hike! The route wasn't paved, and there are steps. So it's not…read moreideal for strollers or wheelchairs. We didn't do the entire hike, but you don't need to do the complete hike to see the falls. We had 4 kids in our group (ages 1,3,4, and 6). We carried the 1 year old, and the other kids all walked. A few steps were a bit higher, but they were able to walk the steps on their own for the most part. You can dip your feet at the bottom of the falls too! My kids also loved the butterflies! We noticed they had milkweeds and other plants to help support various butterflies! Definitely worth a quick visit if you are nearby!

A few blocks from my hotel was this park. I decided after going about the day and seeing the sights…read moreI wanted to see, it was time to just leisurely walk around. What better place to do it than at a park. Especially one that has so much to offer. When I arrived I came at this park from the intersection of Madison & Ostrom. When I came here it was bit off putting to me as it was where the intersection was a bit wonky that allowed for vehicular to enter the park. So you needed to watch while you walking that no traffic was coming, or just walk about the grass, which is what I did. Being from out of town I had no idea what this park had to offer overall but I did do a lot of exploring which led me to a lot of different areas. I first just walked through the fields and along the tree lines. I backtracked a bit and stumbled upon the pool area. From there, I found the amphitheater and hung around there for a bit. After that, I found the football field and saw a lot of people using it for multiple reasons. From exercising, playing with their dogs, flying drones and many other things. I ended my time in the park at the rose garden. Roses were still coming into bloom, but I didn't mind that. I looked around at the different varieties of roses they had planted. I then sat on a bench for a few minutes to just take in this portion of the park. When I left, I was off towards Syracuse University campus. This park is enormous, and I am glad I was able to spend some time here.

Sometimes I'll take my dog for little road trips to new parks (driving an hour or two from home),…read moreand Thornden Park is one we've been to a couple times. It's a really nice, open park with lots of space to walk around. I do wish they had some sidewalks or something along the roads going up or down the hills, but that's one of the few issues I can think of. The park is maintained well, has a lovely rose garden (one of my friends volunteers here regularly, actually, which is how I found out about the park - they have a "Rose Day" in mid-June to celebrate, and I'm told that timing is mainly because that's when the roses are usually at their peak), and lots of fun features - like the amphitheater area, where my dog was especially interested in watching some folks who were preparing for a summer play. There's a pool area as well, tennis courts, concession area, and so on... and my pup especially seemed to love rolling down the hills just below the Thornden Park Water Tower (pictures included in this review, of course). It's worth noting that I *have* had a couple slightly sketchy experiences here... including one time being followed around by another park goer who seemed to be experiencing some mental health issues. As with anywhere, just be mindful of your surroundings.

Great place for family camping. Nice hiking trails beautiful sunsets. The beach isn't the greatest…read morefor swimming but overall a beautiful campground.

This place was amazing. We had such a fun time hiking here. There was also a campground that seemed…read morenice but we did not go for camping. Great place to walk your dogs and check out an amazing view. There are several different trails to enjoy. We did almost all of them when we were there! I definitely recommend a day trip to check this place out. The hiking is also very easy good for different fitness levels.

Wonderful waterfalls hike and easy. Park in dirt parking area and the falls is in view right away…read more If you follow the water upstream you will come to a bigger falls you can walk behind. There is also an upper trail. Beautiful area. Be careful of poison ivy. Water shoes are recommended. Uneven surface and slippery conditions.

A wonderful place to enjoy. We always take a trash bag to…read moreclean up after those that are inconsiderate.