Category Archives: NY State Park

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A Return to Evangola State Park

November 12, 2019 Hex 1 Comment

So, the beginning of October saw us getting a few days of time out camping at Evangola State Park. We had some heavy rains on Wednesday and Thursday, and there was standing water at a number of the places in the campgrounds when I arrived on Thursday. Huzzah for wellies! (Especially with the standing water all along where I could position the door.)

The bus at Evangola site 18 — Site 18 at Evangola State Park.

We got site 18 which was farther away from the cliffs than I would have wanted, but it was one of the few sites left for the weekend, which really surprised me. The loop that our site was on only had 3 other RV/campers parked when I arrived, and being that the main area of the loop is a big grassy field, they were easy to see.

One upside of having participated in the Buffalo’s Mini-Maker Faire was that the bus was really nice, clean, and organized! The site was pretty nicely leveled, and had some nice woods right behind.

The view of the Master Bedroom. — The view of/from the Master Bedroom.

After arriving, the rain tapered off enough that I could get a fire going, once I elevated things enough that they were above the water level. letting me cook dinner.

Open Fire Dinner — Cooking dinner over the fire!

I mag di cookie — I mog di = I like you! (in Bavarian)

While I was doing that, I was visited by a woman with a bit of an accent who asked a bit about the bus. It turned out that she was from Bavaria, and travelling with her parents. After a bit of back and forth, they ended up coming over for a nice evening with some wine and conversation. As they left the next morning, they gave me a lovely Bavarian Oktoberfest cookie (decorated gingerbread!).

The windstorm over that night made the beach into a more interesting place. The beach at Evangola has a base of a shelf of shale, and the huge waves had pushed/pulled the sand away and exposed the stone below. Again, good waterproof boots made for an enjoyable walk, and as the sun came out, the sighting of some fossil wood in the shale!

Evangola Beach post-storm — Evangola Beach without so much beach …

Fossilized wood in shale — Just offshore at the beach, a fossilized branch or small tree trunk?)

The rest of the day was full of relaxing, cooking, and hiking along the cliff trail and beach. Meanwhile, back at the campgrounds, the sites quickly filled, to the point that it looked like a summer weekend, not a cool one in the fall!

Evangola Beach from the cliff — The calm after the storm – looking at the beach from the cliff trail.

The clear water over the clean shale-layered shelf.

There was also time enough for a game of Affliction: Salem 1692, a game that we picked up at UBCon a couple of years ago.

Later we had some fire- and candlelight for the bus.

The next day we stayed to take a class on making tetrahedral kites, and made one out of recycled/used materials before going home.

Once again, this was an enjoyable trip. But, next time we come, I want to make sure that we get a cliff-side site for that spectacular view, and the sound of the surf.

Allegany State Park, Awesome Trip Stuff, camping, Chimney Bluffs State Park, Destination, Letchworth State Park, Niagara Reservation, NY State Park, school bus RV, Skoolie, Taughannock Falls, trip, Watkins Glen

Destination: Central(-ish) New York Locations of Geological Interest (to us)

March 7, 2016 Hex

nysparks Central New York has a number of geologically significant sites, and some of them are places that we would want to go/be able to go with the bus. Many of the areas are State Parks, rather than National Parks, as New York State started to preserve its own natural areas about the same time that the National Park Preserves were instituted (Yellowstone was the first in 1872).

As proof of this, look to the Niagara Reservation State Park (protecting Niagara Falls, Goat Island, and ‘mainland’ areas adjacent to the Bridal Falls), which is the first State Park in America in 1885 (though legislation had been argued over since the late 1860’s)

A view of some of the Gorge at Letchworth.

Anyhow, the first place, going from west (Buffalo) toward the east, is Letchworth State Park, sometimes called the ‘Grand Canyon of the East.’ This is a State Park with camping near(ish) the Gorge Rim, and miles of hiking trails.

With more than 14,000 acres of space, there’s three waterfalls, including the tallest falls in the State. There are historic sites, like Mary Jemison‘s gravesite and the restored Seneca Council House, and the Glen Iris Inn. There are plenty of winter activities too, but the camping sites aren’t open then, so it’s a day-trip for those.

Some of the cool stonework-lined walking trails through Watkins Glen.

Watkins Glen State Park is another really scenic location we’d like to hit. The narrow gorge has several levels of trails, from right down by the water, to much farther up along the rim of the gorge with more view. Run as a private park and resort from 1860, it was purchased by the State as a public park in 1906.

The gorge itself is as much as 400′ deep, and has 19 waterfalls, making it a continually visually enticing hike. Unfortunately (for us), while they have almost 150 RV/trailer spots (and many more camping sites) that will fit a 30′ or smaller unit, our 35′ bus is too large to stay there.

The third place is Chimney Bluffs State Park, which I mentioned in a previous post. There’s no camping here, but the Lake Bluff Campground is only a mile and a half away.

Taughannock Falls is another camping spot, though there’s only one (1!) site that would fit a 35′ RV, so book well in advance! There are actually two falls within the park, and the creek flows along through the park to the shore of Cayuga Lake (one of the Finger Lakes) where they have a boat launch and beach!

the-salt-museum While not as geologically scenic as the other locations, the Salt Museum, in Liverpool, NY examines the history of the industry the salt springs along the shore of Onondaga Lake allowed, so productive that Syracuse, NY was known as the ‘Salt City’. These springs of brine were slowly leeching away the salt from huge underground domes of salt evaporates from ancient seas.

Herkimer Diamonds in a cavity 'cache'. — Herkimer Diamonds in a cavity ‘cache’.

Farther east, the ancient seas also produced Herkimer Diamonds, pointed, faceted quartz crystals of high clarity. There are two highly productive ‘mine-your-own’ mines right next to each other in Middleville, each with camping available.

The Ace of Diamonds Mine has what seems to be a no-frills camping site and the Herkimer Diamond Mines is affiliated with the KOA thst is just across the road from it. You can bring your own (non-power) mining tools, though the fee to get in to the Herkimer Diamond Mines gets you the use of a rock-hammer. Closed shoes, durable pants, and eye-protection a must!

And lastly, Howe Caverns, its nearby rival of the Secret Caverns, and the relatively recently re-opened Cave House Museum of Mining & Geology. Near Bramanville, the lower limestone bedrock has been eroded by water in places, making it pitted with cave networks, both large and small.

The signs for the Secret Caverns are all really awesome.

Some of the tours of Howe Cavern are undertaken by boat along flooded caves, while the Secret Caverns boast an underground waterfall (which depends on seepages from a swamp above for water – if you go during a dry spell, the waterfall may not be very impressive).

Tour boats 150 feet underground ... — Tour boats 150 feet underground …

And don’t think you need to spend all your time underground. Howe Caverns has also added a Zip-Line, Bungee, Climbing Wall, and High Ropes course, so you can really make a day out of your stay. There’s a convenient RV campground just a few miles to the east in Central Valley, Hide-A-Way Campsites. They have 60 spots, and look to have nice amenities.

I’ll be making another post about the Historical sites we want to go to, which will cross with some of these locations, making Central New York really rich and complex for our trips.

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Destination/Trip: From Buffalo to the Almanzo Wilder Homestead

February 22, 2016 Hex Leave a comment

One of the destinations we want to go to with the bus is the Almanzo Wilder Homestead, in Malone, NY. On first glance, you might be asking ‘who’ and ‘why’, but this is the farm that Laura Ingalls Wilder’s (of the Little House books) husband grew up on before moving west and meeting her.

Now, not only is that a neat destination, but the trip there should be lots of fun. Starting from Buffalo, our first likely stop is up on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation to top up our fuel for the trip. While this seems like it would take us out of our way to Malone, it puts us right by the start of the ‘Cobblestone Trail’.

Located along historic Ridge Road (NY 104), the route follows the dry areas of the geography of one of the terraces of the Niagara Escarpment, just north of the route of the Erie Canal. Used by pioneers and homesteaders in the 18th & 19th centuries, it was the major ‘northern’ route into Western New York.

These buildings, often built using skills of masons who had been brought in to work on the building of the stone aspects of the Erie Canal, were expensive and durable, being made of cobbles left from the retreat of the most recent ice age’s glaciers. They functioned not just as houses, churches, or workshops, but also as status symbols for the communities they were in. Now, there’s a Museum for the Cobblestone Society comprised of three cobblestone buildings and four more 19th century wooden structures (at 14389 Ridge Road in Albion).

Farther along, north of Rochester, NY Route 104 crosses the mouth of Irondequoit Bay on a long, elevated bridge that gives a great view of both the Bay and out to Lake Ontario to the north.

Following along NY 104 to the east, just past Sodus Bay, is Chimney Bluffs State Park. Another remnant of the glacial actions of the last ice age, the eroding glacial till is constantly changing, like the Badlands of South Dakota. These formations continue to the east along Lake Ontario to Oswego.

Following NY 104 along that route, past Oswego, 104B heads northeast to Route 3, which heads north along the eastern shore of Lake Ontario to Henderson Bay, and just past Sacketts Bay, heading north on County Road 180 to 12E, which will take us up to Cape Vincent, where Lake Ontario flows out into the St. Lawrence River and through the Thousand Islands. NY Route 12 ends at Morristown, but the route along the river continues as NY Route 37, and continues that way until Massena. After Massena, the road turns south-east toward Malone.

Just ten miles short of Malone (and twelve miles from the Almanzo Wilder Homestead) is the Babbling Brook RV Park. This looks like a great base to travel from to the Homestead. There are only 57 sites, but a quick search for reviews comes up nicely positive, so we’re looking forward to trying them out!

Finally we can get to the Homestead itself. The museum/home-stead consists of 84 acres of farmland, woods, restored original post and beam constructed farmhouse (1840-1843), reconstructed post and beam framed barns and outbuildings, a museum/visitor center/research library/ archives/gift shop complex, orchard, covered picnic pavilion, and nature trail to the Wilder family frontage on the Trout River.

We really think that this looks like a full day’s worth of exploration, so we’ll likely have another night at the RV Park, then head home. While the scenic route could take us 8 or so hours (without extended stops!), the route back to Buffalo, via I-81 and I-90 could take us as little as 4 and a half. But of course, there’s more to do on the way back if we go in a round-about fashion. But that’s another post’s work.

And if you want to know more about Almanzo Wilder, or what the homestead was like when he was a boy, check out the book!

A Buffalo Bus

Category Archives: NY State Park

A Return to Evangola State Park

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Destination: Central(-ish) New York Locations of Geological Interest (to us)

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Destination/Trip: From Buffalo to the Almanzo Wilder Homestead

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Rebuilding a school bus into a rolling house.

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Rebuilding a school bus into a rolling house.