You learn about the Falls in junior high if you grew up in Troy, Watervliet, Cohoes, Lansingburgh…read moreaka 'the burgh'...or in other words are a local. Its a nice bit of 'wilderness' in the city. I guess the police/rescue squad get about 5-10 calls every spring-early fall to get some idiot that overestimated their free climbing prowess, got in a hairy spot, and (best case) froze and needed help back down. Worst case they fall, get injured and need to be carried out. Back in the day when I was still a young woman I did enjoy hiking in with some friends and finding a quiet spot near the falls to enjoy the natural vibes with the help of some good quality bud. , Haven't been up to the falls in years but I imagine not much has changed. Note/another reviewer questioned why the city doesn't keep it up better as it is a nice spot. I think the land is privately owned not city property.

Finding this beauty made my entire weekend. Ah, just to sit and breathe it in. Thank you, Yelp…read morefriends, for pointing the way. If you are near Troy definitely worth finding.

A lovingly restored and maintained historic home, with a one-room school house, a large barn, and…read morelots of history to explore and learn.

Cute little historic complex, which I'll describe in detail below, that pays its way for the Town…read moreof Colonie as a reception hall specializing in weddings. I can't comment on the weddings but it looks like a very good value for a small wedding and a charming, spacious setting. The historic complex has three main "attractions". The first is the Pruyn House itself, an odd combination of a federal brick and greek revival mansion, built in the first third of the 19th century for Casparus Pruyn and family. Pruyn was the agent/collector for Stephen van Rensselaer III, the last Patroon of Rensselaerswyck, the feudal remnant of the Dutch empire in the US that lasted in its odd legal form until the middle of the 19th century. It is not the main site of business, but it does speak a bit to the social history around the Patroonship system. There are interpretive placards in each room, including one on the Anti-Rent Wars that broke up the Patroon system finally. Most of the rooms have period furnishings in them, although not a full restoration, and as such it's a nice illustration of 19th century elite living but not exactly a full recreation. The upper floors have rooms that double as offices for the curators, so there are also modernized touches around. Even so, it's a moderately interesting look. There's not a lot of interpretation but enough to figure things out. Outside the main house is a lovely flower garden, and two more buildings. One is the Buhrmaster Barn, an early 19th century barn that was moved from a position close to the Mohawk River, and the old Verdoy school, which was moved from its location near Route 7 in 1995. The barn is used for receptions and programs, and has some very interesting intact woodwork but is, well, you know, a barn used for wedding receptions. It's nicer than a real barn but not as interesting. The Verdoy school house, though, is one of the best intact one-room school houses in the area, and they have a few desks and some props (I can't call them artifacts) left out, which I am guessing are used for school groups to come in, with some modern seating. It's worth a peek inside - the kids enjoyed playing school for a few minutes - but it's not a complete re-creation either. It's all free (donations accepted) and despite the relative lack of interpretation it should be of interest to those interested in local history, old houses, or just a pleasant walk around some grounds. There are picnic tables and a big open space in the rear, and I don't know if they care if you come and use it as a picnic spot, but I would recommend it as such if you're looking for one in the area and want to spice up your stop with a little history.

We visited here twice when we were in Albany this Fall. On our first visit, we toured the grounds,…read morewhich are beautiful, and learned some cool facts from the interpretive signs. On the second visit, we checked out the holiday craft market featuring over 90 vendors including purveyors of mushrooms, coffee, cheeses and tons of hand made table linens and crafts. Some great finds here included mushroom seasoning, ginger jams, and some rare treats from their heavily discounted "attic" section which was super fun to browse. I picked up two cool, old style cookbooks from here for just a couple dollars.

Well despite coming here to Albany for such a short time out of disappointment in regards to my…read morefamily who never told me that they wanted to stay here shortly I had left them alone and went my own way to this Shaker heritage community unfortunately they are closed on Monday and Tuesday and originally I was supposed to go to Cleveland for at least going to the arboretum down there in Cleveland no they want to go over here and stores are closed anyways this looks like a good place to check out I would come back here again but without my family since I like the quaintness of state capital Albany in upstate New York other than that not much I could say I like how they have this rare cow that they raise here that's almost extinct chickens and how they educate you about the Shakers since they don't live a life of producing but rather of the celibate life in Christianity from the days of George Washington and the American revolution. That is what I learned about this place unfortunately I couldn't go to the museum because it was closed on Monday

Beautiful modern statue of real life person Uncle Sam! The small park is in Troy, NY close to the…read morewaterfront. Several plaques to read. Parking. Bus stop. Benches to sit. Review: 5+

Troy's Uncle Sam [Troy NY]…read more Keep your eyes open or you might miss this shiny silver statue of the Uncle Sam Monument who stands facing River Street. The statue identifies him as "Uncle Sam Wilson." The inscription on the statue says that he was born in Arlington MA. He was a New York meatpacker who supplied barrels of beef to the U.S. Army (who were preparing to go to war with Canada) during the war of 1812. Rations of meat were uncommon back then and when asked who supplied it "Uncle Sam" was mentioned. The barrels were stamped "U.S." and since then the kindness of Uncle Sam and United States were associated. He is buried in Troy NY at Oakwood Cemetery. Other inscriptions on the monument says: Troy's Citizen - America's Uncle The big thing is not what happens to us in life But what we do about what happens to us. U S of AMERICA N A C M Originated during War of 1812 L E This was a nice statue with a cool history behind the man. Review #3013

Another find, thanks to Atlas Obscura. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/troy-gasholder-building…read moreThere's not much like this fabulous building but it is definitely not open to the public. There was a gent there today when we stopped by and he opened the main gates for us so that we could get pictures. The building itself is closed and secured. If you stop by after hours and the gate is locked, you can still get a good view. So, what's this about? The Troy Gasholder Building dates back to when coal gas was manufactured and it needed to be stored so that it could be used later to light streets and homes. The building has a brick structure and the tank inside (not there, as far as I know) was 100 feet in diameter and 22 feet high, which would store 330,000 cubic feet of gas. Today, it's next to a repair yard and in the middle of a neighborhood of brownstone looking homes. There is some street parking. [Review 11508 overall, 1288 of 2019.]

This is a pretty nice dog park. It is located with a whole park complex that includes several paved…read morewalking trails, a pool area, tennis courts, baseball diamonds, and fields. We have only explored the dog park area, which consists of two fenced in areas (one for "large" dogs, the other for "small" dogs) to run around in. A gazebo which provides some shelter from the sun is located in between both of the areas, and the fence runs through it. Like all dog parks, as the season wears on the grass slowly gets worn away and the gazebo gets dirtier. The cleanliness of the grass itself is entirely on the responsibility of the dog owners to pick up after their pets. I haven't had too much trouble here in that regard. Water is available for the dogs to drink, but bring a bowl (though some are usually here).

Colonie sometimes gets a bad rap…read more Perhaps because the most obvious symbol of the town is Wolf Road where it seems like all the national chain restaurants open shop to the detriment of our regional culture. Traffic gets snarled up on this arterial too, which makes it a place that some people avoid like the plague. But some of my favorite things in the region are in Colonie. Yes, there's Trader Joe's, which I am still ever thankful decided to open up an outpost in Albany. But Parivar on Central Avenue with its back-of-store kitchen is an amazing place to get delicious Indian street-food served without pretense while catching up on a bit of Bollywood and picking up some dried lentils and spice blends for home cooking projects. And it's not just the exotic ethnic places in Colonie either. Because this town is the home of Ralph's Tavern which has been feeding families wings, pizza, and mozzarella with melba for generations. In the summer there is Scoups ice cream, which is just about adjacent to The Crossings. The latter is probably the single best outdoor playground for young kids in the area, even though I wish it had more shade. And during the growing season, The Crossings plays host to a farmers market. For a suburb of Albany, this town has a lot going on.

The Queen of Queens heads to the capitol. I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. A beautiful…read morebuilding that was easily accessible although you will have to go through multiple security checkpoints when navigating through the building. Don't worry, security officers were personable and were happy to direct to where you need to be. I think they rather you ask than aimlessly wander around this pretty important government building. There are shops and places to grab a quick bite. There is also a Dunkin' in there and this was what I needed to refuel halfway through the day. If you like history/public affairs/governmental stuff...definitely worth a visit. I'm sure I'll be back in some capacity.

My wife has family in Albany and when there we always make a stop at our states capital. We would…read morevisit before we were Married and once there were a concert we enjoyed. Right downstairs from this Plaza is the ny state museum a must see. During the second year of cov vid I proposed to her and we went to city hall in New York Manhattan. And got our license. But had difficulties getting a date to make it official. So my wife decided to call Albany and someone actually answered . And gave us a date in Aug of 2021 . Where we were married and spent the weekend with family.

This is a great spot to come for a walk and it does connect to the nearby bike trail that goes from…read moreAlbany to Watervliet. My mom loves coming here to walk her Shih Tzu. Various historical signs are placed throughout the park, so it's a fun place to explore a bit. I went recently for the first time last fall, I had driven by this spot many times and never stopped. This would probably be a good place to take a child that is learning to ride a bike. The only negative is that there aren't any restrooms.

This park is really nice. They have a paved sidewalk that goes around the whole park so theres…read morealways joggers. It's also pet friendly and they usually have some soccer goals. Nice open field with a few trees and benches.

Ah, good old Wolf Road, always evolving. I don't get back home too often, but I seem to always see…read morenew businesses popping uphere. Chain burger joints seem to be the new craze on this strip. Luckily some of the oldies like JT Maxie's, Denooyer Chevy and others are still around! Most people don't realize this busy Capital Region road used to all be farmland a mere 60 YEARS ago. My mom grew up in the South Colonie area, it has got to be wild to have experienced how much this has changed. I think there MAY be one private residence left on this road. I was looking through an old book on Wolf Road while I was home in the 518. It's by Naylor, Platt and Platt, I imagine the Colonie Town Library would have a copy. I was skimming the book and found out that a country club once stood where Colonie Center is. I lived in Albany 30+ years and it's amazing how much that mall has evolved, it's now quite nice for this region. I remember the Herman's sporting good store on Wolf Road, that moved to Colonie Center and is now long gone. I miss the days when we had Papa Gino's across from the mall! I remember driving by Jerry's Bike Shop and Cranberry Bog often as a kid, hard to believe these spots are no longer there. Platt's Deli was another popular Wolf Road institution, that was replaced by Bucca di Beppo (if I remember correctly). It's amazing how many businesses have come and gone over even just the last 20 years. 2012 brought us Trader Joe's, which has horrible parking nation wide and even in Smalbany too! I'm not quite sure why they placed this popular store in such a congested area! The traffic on Wolf Road is to be avoided at Xmas, but after living in Los Angeles, I now snicker when my friends complain about this thoroughfare.

Wolf Road, a popular restaurant strip in Albany is by far a major strip of road that anytime I head…read moreup to Albany, I always end up taking. Whether it's to get to Colonie Center at one end of the road to the Albany-Shaker Rd intersection (leading to Albany International Airport), there's no stopping at what's always going on in this strip of land. I always have enjoyed heading into Colonie Center, but sometimes stop at McDonalds down the road, or if I'm in a real pickle I'll stop into Hooters (on a whim), but I always find something I'm after on Wolf Rd. There's no stopping the businesses here. You have plenty of hotel/motels here, and several banks have locations down this strip. The only trouble is all the traffic lights which ties up traffic too often. There's a few gas stations along the route, but I'm amazed at what's there already. I'd hate to demonize Wolf Rd because there's so much I can get to when I'm there, it's sometimes necessary to say "avoid it" because of the traffic lights and heavy traffic. It's all city traffic here, stop-and-go all-the-time; sometimes the average tourist hates but will encounter when coming down this road for the umptisquat time. IHOP is always a family favorite - especially with it's former gabled-roof charm, but if it isn't for Colonie Center and the airport (because exits 3 and 4 of the Northway really never hit home for helping me get to the airport) , I never thought I'd go past or use this road ever again. When traveling this strip, you have to know what you want and be willing to accept just what you get even if it's farther than you'd want to travel to get to the outer areas. Full-time locals of both Albany and Colonie, might have better viewpoints of most of the other locations, but when you travel, you have to be select, and selection is definitely a lot of what this area is like. I have headed into more businesses than you can imagine - all on Wolf Rd both as a tourist,and a semi-local, and each time I'm amazed at what I didn't know the last time I came, and I'm always in for more knowledge the next times I come through, thereby replacing other notions of what I didn't know about before.