This was a true winter wonder of a find for a gem of a park in Wyoming County. First, learned about…read morethis place, through an advertisement, of all places mall walking at Boulevard Mall, in Amherst, NY. When mother nature gives you plenty of snow, one decides to enjoy a little snow on a winter day, and check out a new park. This park is a less then an hour drive from Amherst, NY on the outskirts of Batavia, NY. The interactive nature center/ information building, really was astonishing, in my opinion top notch for a county park. Dave, greeted us as we stepped inside the interactive nature center and were blown away. This place is great for kids, adults, everyone in my opinion, that has adventure in them, and appreciates the outdoors. There's the children's room, information for summer camp, educational exhibits, real life turtle, and many more interesting artifacts. The park offers snowshoe rentals, and the poles for $ 5, and a variety of programing for a small nominal fee depending on event of $5 to help maintain the park. The park offers plenty of trails, and room to explore, along with their Toboggan hills. Clean, spacious ,beautiful location and perfect to beat the winter blues. I highly recommend to utilize the poles provided with the snow shoes. Unfortunately, when you don't you risk potential to fall. Overall, looking forward to coming back soon to explore the park even more.

What do you do when life hands you over a foot of snow in March???…read more.. Well go snowshoeing of course! Me and my husband checked out Genesee County Park this weekend and were very impressed with what it had to offer. I have never been snowshoeing before, but they had a great set up. For $5 you can rent a pair of snowshoes and poles from 12-3 on Sundays. The man working said he would be there until at least 4 so not to worry about being back by 3 which I thought was a nice perk. The park itself was nice, there were lots of paths to explore. The snow came Thursday night into Friday and we explored the park on Sunday. By then there were lots of paths spread around the park made by other snowshoers and cross country skiers which was nice for someone unfamiliar with the park. What really set this park apart though was there information building. For the nature enthusiast you could spend quite a bit of time looking at all of the exhibits and artifacts they had collected there. From nests of every kind to all sorts of animals, to a real life turtle there was lots to explore. There was also an interactive children's room with puppets and more education exhibits. The park had some really cool information about their summercamp for middle and high school students as well. From geocaching to outdoor skills to science the camp really seemed to help prospective students get an idea about some possible careers in the environment. If you're in the area I definitely recommend Genesee County Park in the winter, besides snowshoeing they also have toboggan hills that looked like a great way to cure the cabin fever in winter. I'm excited to come back once the weather warms up and check out what this park has to offer when the weather clears!

Had a bad experience. In addition to the hill being almost completely ice, there's literally no way…read moreto stop without getting seriously hurt. If you feel like you're being courageous, and you want to give it a shot you'll most likely caroom off the edge of the hill at the bottom into a swampy wet area and you'll get soaked. 4 years ago, I broke my ankle in two different spots and I had to go to the ER because I hit a lnicy ramp and I landed awkwardly. Don't go here in the winter.

Very cool, huge park! Playground was perfect for 9 & 11 year olds. Playground is all wood with…read morereally cool And unique features. Trails are really muddy in spring. Absolutely huge area to walk around.

What a fantastic park, lots of great hiking trails along the Oatka Creek with such beautiful views…read more Trails are easily marked. Love how they even spray paint uprooted tripping hazards.. bright pink and white. Loved hiking to the bridge overpass , great view over the creek. So much fun rustling through autumn leaves and fall weather!

I have such conflicted feelings about this review, because part of what makes Oatka Creek Park so…read moreamazing is that it's off the beaten path and not very well known. But a good Yelper doesn't hoard the knowledge, and the physical location of the park is still going to be off the beaten path, so I can be confident in sharing why Oatka Creek Park is a gem. Oatka Creek Park is a little hard to find if you haven't been there before. Luckily, Waze actually recognized the address and got us there in one piece. Basically, you go through an intersection and the park is right there. There was a decent sized parking lot right away, and down the road another, closer to the trail. It's your call which lot is best. The main trail is a loop around the park, the goal to get you down to Oatka Creek itself. And let me say, it's worth the hike. Moving water is the best, for so many reasons. It's not the fastest moving creek, but it's a great one to stop at and take in the sights. I found the trail to be fairly simple, a little uphill and downhill at times, but not the strenuous kind (at least in my eyes). You could even go on horseback if you wanted, and I've seen the horses on the trail. It's a good one for horses, but be advised that with horses comes the not so little presents they leave behind. Watch where you step. Oatka Creek Park is a true gem, so I don't feel too bad about letting the world know about it. Somehow, I feel the serenity and woodland creatures won't go anywhere on a day with more hikers and horses than usual.

Austin park in Batavia NYs dog friendly facilities consist of a massive semi modern playground ,…read moreseasonal restroom facilities , picnic pavilion and a splash park for the kiddos all set in a convenient business block on one side with banking and for eats Wendy's and Tim Hortons resturant - And a tree coverd park and housing on the other. It even has a baseball diamond. Trash can equiped Several benches arround play areas some in shade, others not so much. As to safety this park is nessled right behind a massive police station so it's better situated than most, still fights and schenanigins do rarely happen. It can get VERY rambunctious with play during hot summer days and plays host to many festavils and free community BBQ events yearly that are well worth checking out.

This is a nice location for Batavian's to relax with the kids for a picnic , creek fishing in the…read morenorth bank of the Tonawanda Creek or play tennis, walk dogs or schedule a party in the picnic table equipped pavilion (see the webpage for details) The park is handicapped equipped playground wise (swing) There is park provided charcoal grills The playground is well maintained Porto-potty seasonally on sight Depending on water levels there is a nice boat launch if you enjoy kayaking) This location is conveniently located close to Daves ice cream shop which is a HUGE benefit on hot days. Not usually a winter facility (flooding)

This is a fascinating place. It's about an hour outside of Buffalo. You'll pass through Batavia to…read moreget here most likely. You arrive and there's easy parking. You walk to where you check in, although they say it's free on the website they are asking for a donation when you arrive. As you walk around you can see why, incredible amount of work is going into keeping this place up. These are large crowns and you want comfortable walking shoes for them. It's not very wheelchair or stroller friendly. These are the grounds of someone who lived in the city of Buffalo. He was clearly wealthy. He's grounds are magnificent, even though they've hardly deteriorated over time. I was only he loveEvidently he love peonies card, and has a garden devoted to them. And has them elsewhere and his space as well.

Linwood Gardens is about 45 minutes south west of Rochester and open several weekends in May and…read moreJune each year for their annual Tree Peony Festival. The house is a Rare Plants Nursery and former home of William Henry Gratwick II from Buffalo. Lee Gratwick, W.G's daughter is now living at Linwood and is dedicated to preserving the Tree Peony Collection, the Gardens, and the Summer house. It's a great weekend getaway to kill a couple hours, see the extensive tree peony collection and explore the grounds with it's various ponds, fountains, and floral area's. I go every year as it's open on the weekend between Lilac Festival and Fairport Canal Days. Two thumbs up, go check it out.

My husband and I have joined the WNY Hiking Challenge this summer-fall season. We've been exploring…read moresome of the local parks/hiking trails that we haven't visited while living in WNY my entire life! This trail did not disappoint. It was a moderately challenging (meaning some extended periods of walking uphill) and about a 3-1/2 to 4 mile hike. The day we went it was not buggy but we did encounter some muddy areas. Great place to hike come fall when the leaves will be changing.

I have been here twice. I came here yesterday with a friend to hike. The parking lot was full but…read morethere was barely anyone on the trail route that we took. There was a tough uphill incline but I enjoyed the hike. The trails aren't well marked but we were fine. I'd love to return again to try a few more different trails or to walk longer.

Small little park in the center of Oakfield. It aptly gets it's name from the triangular plot of…read moreland it sits on between 3 streets in the village center. Overall it is small and basic. It includes a gazebo, a couple of benches, a small memorial and really that is it, it is not a large piece of land in any respect, not much room for games or sports in this park, but don't worry there is a park very nearby with plenty of space if you are looking for those things. What really sets this park apart though, and makes it worthy of note is the wonderful events that the village of Oakfield puts on at this site. In September it is the main location of the Labor Daze festival that includes a race, craft vendors, food, games, entertainment, fireworks and much more over Labor Day weekend, definitely a fun festival to check out, it is worth the drive! Possbily even more special in December it is home to about 50-60 Christmas trees, which get decorated by local businesses and residents of the town in memory or in honor of special people. It is a beautiful site to behold, especially at night when all of the trees are lit up. It is also really neat to walk around and look at the details, trees with baseball ornaments in memory of someone who loved baseball, and a tree hung with cookie cutters for a local baker. They also have a special Christmas festival complete with a visit from Santa, wreaths given out that collect ornaments from different local establishments, crafts and fun for the whole famliy. For such a small park that could be looked over as insignificant, this small town park has a lot of special things that make it a worthwhile trip! Keep in mind those special times of the year and check it out yourself!