The rose gardens here are stunning, and I wasn't even visiting during peak blooming season! The…read moregrounds are kept up very nicely. The best part is that it's free and hardly any people.

I was here for an event and boy was it busy. Baseball games all over the place and kids running…read morearound. Very large park with tons of parking. Signage isn't great so you definitely need to know where you're going.

This is one of my favorite parks in the area. Not only is it convenient for me, but it also have a…read morelot of the amenities I am looking for. First, it has plenty of hiking trails and paths for scenic walks for families, including dogs. It has two well-maintained tennis courts, a basketball court, a baseball field, pool and plenty of picnic tables. It even has a big playground for the kids, and a pool. I love taking a walk at the paths, especially towards the top of the hill, and towards the back of the golf course. The park is dog friendly as well. I love taking my pup for a walk here. If you go now, they have banners honoring local military veterans, and war heroes. They also just added a memorial for heroes who served in wars. It's definitely worth checking out! There's a fee for parking on some weekends, but weekdays are free.

This park has a lot of shade, very nice for having a little more privacy than most other parks. The…read moreplayground has a rather high jungle gym so you'll wanna keep a close eye on your little ones. But overall very nice and very pretty during the autumn season.

Small and quiet pocket park. There is playground equipment for older and younger kids, a pavilion,…read moretennis court (looks new), basketball area as well as another paved area. Lots of room for the kids to run around, plus it's fenced in with trees for shade and benches to sit on.

We started coming here during the pandemic as a way to get out of the house. Their two dog park…read moreareas, which are fenced in, are reasonably large and clean and share a common "owner area" in the middle where we can watch our pets run around. The old Troy and Schenectady Railroad, now a rail-trail, was also pleasant to walk along through the woods. Admittedly, I enjoyed it more for its former railroad history than as an actual paved trail but there enough things to do and see including a large tunnel that went under Route 9 and a dusty cement plant. The water park area is fantastic with lots of spraying pipes and hoses and such in the kiddie spray area. There are several pools too for different swim levels and one had diving boards. Changing rooms with free lockers are provided, and there is a concession stand on one end that sells hamburgers, hot dogs, nachos, and the like. There is one downside though: they ID everyone that comes in. Colonie residents pay $7 each, and non-residents pay $12 each. That is for the day. It isn't a lot of money, and I believe you can purchase season passes to save money. But, on the day we came I didn't think to bring my license and they absolutely wouldn't let me in without some form of ID or proof of address. They asked if I had old mail in my car (nope), a way to check a bill on my [flip] phone (nope), insurance registration (nope), etc. We paid the $5 non-resident premium and moved on. I won't make that mistake again, and as a Colonie resident I sort of appreciate why they are doing it, but it was annoying.

I really love the High Diving board and I wish my girlfriend could go swimming with me!read more

Large park with paved trails, a pond with multiple fountains, tons of benches, two parks for kids,…read moremany pavilions and bathrooms available. A bunch of flat fields people meet at for events and flag football etc. Not tons of shade but enough to keep it enjoyable. Bring water and you will be sure to enjoy!!! :) There has been some concern with suspicious people lurking by parks that's worth mentioning. One lady said she was with the paper and was taking pictures of kids and evaded once questioned. Another man was recently banned for lurking and aggression at the park.

This is a wonderful place for walking, taking children to the wonderful playground and sitting by…read morethe pond. Additionally, there are too many activities and free music concerts to list.

I have logged many-a-mile on this trail over the years; most often between Kiwanis and Aqueduct…read moreParks. I especially enjoy starting near Schenectady Community College - an easy-to-spot local landmark with lots of room to park for group run meet-ups, a small track space perfect for timing splits and speedwork, and plenty of benches and grasses spaces for stretching and chatting before/after a walk, run, bike, or blade. The path varies in flatness, tree cover, nature-views, and frequency of traffic crossing, offering a nice variety for any activity. I've spotted loads of unthreatening wildlife while on the path, including turtles, deer, snakes, ground hogs, beavers, and many different birds, squirrels, and enjoy being near the water and especially stopping at the locks to stretch, rest, or fuel mid-long run, too. [extra garbage cans, tables/benches, and proximity to other humans makes it feel like a safer space to slow, perhaps?] I am hopeful that the Color the Canal project will return for the third year in 2021, which creates visual and sculptural art to welcome the CEC cyclists riding from Buffalo to Albany each July.

My wife and I walked the portion between Watervliet and Albany recently and it was a pretty nice…read moretrail. Much of it was in the woods along an old railroad right-of-way, so there were plenty of trees providing shade. A couple of clearings allowed for sightlines of the expressway but it wasn't too noisy. One area had a bench, picnic table, and informational display about the location of the old Troy Iron Works. A few areas had cutaways in the trees for sightlines to the river. I wish there was more to see or do along the trail, and it would have been appreciated to have some more benches or tables or whatnot to rest on. But, the area in Watervliet where the parking lot is had a couple of tables.

A small park that's good for kids on a hot sunny day as it has a lot of shade to keep it cool. The…read morepark has swings, slides and features other cool play equipment for the kids. In addition the park also has a basketball court and tennis court with enough room for adults to walk around. There is ample seating, parking and picnic tables for a mini picnic. Been coming here for 5 years now and will continue to do so till my son grows out of it.

Nice park when it's hot out with the tall pines. We call it…read morethe shady park. Well maintained. .

What a gem. We have been visiting Plotter Kill for over a year and the changing seasonal characters…read moreof the part are just one of the many draws for us. The place is deceptively vast and you could easily get lost in it - not literally and in the most delightful ways. First off, parking is usually no problem since the parking lot fits about 20 vehicles, although there has been one occasion where it spilt over to the main road in the summer. The short trail from the parking lot to the first two forks is gorgeous with tree shade and mostly gravelly than the majority of the trails which are more natural. The creek and the falls are beautiful, although water level can be quite low in the summer and early fall. All in all this is a great park suitable for most people to navigate, and I'm glad for another natural reserve like this.

Gorgeous scenery here, but we had some issues with the trails/trail maps that I suspect weren't…read morecompletely down to my being bad at reading them. What's shown on the map at the entrance doesn't seem to conform to reality, and many trails are very obviously blocked off with warning signs, end in abrupt dead ends, or head off in directions that don't seem to reflect what the map shows. The blue trail on the map brings you past several waterfalls, but the real one seemed to reroute you away from the water and onto a muddy track through the woods heading in the opposite direction. This might have eventually led back in the direction of the falls, but we decided to turn back from when the mud got tough to deal with. To find the interesting bits in my pictures, we went to the first observation point on the blue trail, doubled back to take the bridge to the red trail, then went past there and took the yellow trail to the water before heading back to the parking lot, with a few accidental detours in between. With all of the backtracking and wrong turns I'd guesstimate that we walked a total of about three miles, but if you were more systematic about it you could probably do it under two. However, the short dead-end yellow trail especially was very steep and somewhat challenging for keeping our footing on the downhill, so appropriate hiking/walking shoes are still a good idea. Don't come here in flip flops! All in all this was still totally worth it, but I'd be really happy to learn that they've managed to re-open the trails that have been closed (for safety reasons?) and/or updated the maps to make it a bit easier to hit the scenic highlights.

Good fun walk. In between residential homes along the Mohawk River. A smattering of small…read morebuildings, some cupolas and those little outdoor birdhouse-libraries. At some points the paths have waterways on both sides, that was cool. Bike-path, running area, walking route. Tons and tons of benches. Goes on forever and is best on a really sunny day. Review: 4

I believe that green spaces like this are essential to our collective health, so this park gets a…read morebonus star from me. Still, the somewhat limited amenities of the park also limit my options to enjoy the park, which is why I'm not sure if I'll be coming back here in the future. On a positive note though, I saw people jogging, biking, picnicking, and having their car towed, and it looked like the trail might stretch for many miles, so the park clearly provides many benefits to many of us. There are picnic benches and a gazebo, a public restroom, and plenty of parking.

Firstly, I love nature, so any well-intentioned effort to preserve nature gets extra love from me…read more Lisha Kill Natural Area is one of the best and most beautiful of the many beautiful parks and reserves in the area. And it also more than lives up to the "natural" in its name because there's vast unspoiled natural elements for many to enjoy and appreciate, including streams, unpaved trails, and hills. Speaking of unpaved, this park is largely not wheelchair accessible, and there's no public restroom that I'm aware of, either in the parking lot or within the park. Regardless of which trail you eventually pick, the first about 0.5 mile has steep hills before you cross a bridge over a small creek to climb up to a decision point. The trails are clearly marked with colours on tree trunks, so staying on marked trails has so far been easy. The parking lot has never been full, so parking has never been an issue. Enjoy!

Right down the street from us, the only old growth forest remaining in the CRUST (Capital Region of…read moreUpSTate New York), Lisha Kill is a semi-public park owned and maintained by the Nature Conservancy and open to the public ten months a year. (It's generally closed in February and March to avoid trail damage). It's a great day hike that can last just an hour or a whole afternoon, dog- and relatively kid-friendly. I avoided reviewing it, I have to confess, to keep it obscure, but now some other Yelper has listed it, I'll have to chime in. NO MOUNTAIN BIKING, no horses, OK? Snowshoeing is OK in winter months when it's open, x-country skiing not a good idea. There are few stands of old growth forest in New York outside of the Adirondacks. This area was originally slated for a connector highway in the 1950's, which would have crossed the Mohawk at Vischer Ferry, but early local conservationists rallied and prevented the project (of dubious usefulness) from coming to fruition. Some of the Eastern white pines and hemlocks in the preserve are over 200 years old; as the name 'old growth' implies, the area of the preserve has never been developed, despite being enveloped by intensive farm, and later suburban, development. The parking is behind the former Niskayuna Grange, previously the Niskayuna/Rosendale school until the early 20th century. This building is owned by the town of Niskayuna, and would be a great little visitor center for the preserve, only there's no money to do it. We're working on it. The building has some interest though as a surviving early school structure. Also note, as you pull in, the garage to your left (privately owned); this is the original Fire House for Fire District Number 3! There are two main loops and one small one, all well-marked. There's a steep downhill at the beginning (which, you got it, is an uphill at the end) that can be treacherous during wet weather. The first left you take is a gradual trail on a plateau, which you can use to dart down to the Lisha Kill (creek) at the end, or make a full loop back on the creek-level trail. Go to Nature.org and look for Lisha Kill to find a trail map. There is also an audio interactive feature available for your smart phone via QR codes at little mini kiosks through the trails, for a self-guided tour of the natural history of the park. The creek runs nicely most of the year, and is at the wading level, although it's pretty rocky for most of its run. Dogs will love this park (please be responsible, etc.), particularly your water-loving hounds. If you care to hike further afield, by crossing Rosendale Rd. at the far end of the Lisha Kill trail system, you can connect up to the "Mohawk State Park" (Niskayuna Town Trails) trail system that leads along the Mohawk river and Lock 7. Or, you can cross over and walk up to Iroquois Middle School, and walk through woods on the other side of the playfields to River Rd. Park, and connect up to the Mohawk State Park trails system on the other side of River Rd. Altogether the parks here form a sort of secret greenspace of over 1000 acres, interrupted only by the houses along Rosendale Rd. If you smoke, or leave litter, in this park I will personally come and find you and rip your soul from your sorry meatbag corpse. Is that clear?