I actually discovered this park - on a whim. I didn't know much about parks in Port Ewen until I…read morepassed by this park on my way to a Shipt customer this evening. When I later stopped off, the signs out front of the park were confusing - but I trudged on and into the park. However, once I found a parking spot (no spots are really marked per se), I couldn't believe just how lovely it felt to stop by. I like relaxing spots and having it be a warm day and being so close to the Hudson River, I felt that "cooling" refreshing breeze sweep over me. From the signs of the river breezes rushing in towards the banks of the parks, I could tell it was going to storm. Lots of places were saying to stay tuned for storms for tonight. However, I stopped by (for about ten minutes) and it was a surprise. The park may not be very much of a park at all. There are a couple of kid playland pieces and an enclosed table area (which has been closed by the park's management in light of coronavirus as is seen by tables being stacked on top of one another). However, that doesn't stop people from taking their stuff over onto the grass under or near the trees as I spotted today by this one couple having a picnic on the grass with their kids. In spots, I spotted some kids going into the water at the shore's edge - still in the safety of eyes of the caretakers (don't know if they were parents or not). Except for a few spots, there are few to no signs of no swimming - although beware, the beachfront isn't large enough to be considered a beach, and there are no lifeguards here! I don't know the accuracy of the statement of what I think I saw, but there's an outlet area near the parking lot that looks like it's been used as a boat launch area before. However, that too has signage, but nothing about no launching boats here. I mean, I could see this place as a great picnic spot for when you are out of ideas and need a cool refreshing breeze to pick you up, and having some of the Riverview Apartments nearby, makes things a bit refreshing to see relaxation places show up in these times of closure (where walls begin to cave in) - up close, and I'm glad to have been a part of them today. I probably won't be back because I don't live close enough by, but I guess if I'm in the area, I could stop by - probably on another whim.

I was pleasantly surprised when i pulled up to this facility. It is located in a state park so the…read moreentrance fee was $10 but it was well worth it. The parking lot was huge and it was a short walk to the entrance of the facility. I noticed there was a cafe called " Acorns" which had food and snacks and then saw bathroom facilities and showers ! It was just what i was looking for to post up and hang for a while. I will say, the showers are not the best kept, so have low expectations but there was hot water so it was exactly what i was looking for. There was a beautiful tree covered walkway down to the beach, which made it feel magical and it opened up to the lake. It wasn't the largest beach but it was perfect. The beach was really clean and lifeguards on duty. I' m so happy this place was recommended to me by a local Park Ranger when i asked for places to swim in the area. I was visiting Cold Spring for the day.

Clean, beach like, lake!…read more Just $8 for entrance fee (per car) and you have access to clean bathrooms, sandy "beach", bbq area, picnic tables and a fishing dock. Only down side is no floating devices allowed. Social distancing ENFORCED and while at the sandy side you must be 10 feet apart. If you go use the restrooms you must wear your mask. No dogs allowed in the sand area. Overall nice lake to spend your summer in, they do have a strict limit of how many people/cars are allowed. When it gets over crowded in the weekend they will close admission for the day. Definitely best to go during the week to be safe. Otherwise, make sure to get there nice and early to guarantee admission. Open from 9-6

Be prepared, the trail down to the falls is very long and while its quite easy going down ,getting…read moreback up is a definitely a treck. It's so worth it though. If however you decide not to go down to the bottom, there is a viewing platform . The waterfall pressure/flow can vary depending on when you visit. Heavy after rain or less during the summer months. Swimming is allowed in the basin , the water is cold . The fall and parking are free in designated parking lots. There was a porta potty in tje lot we parked in. Not sure if there's one in each parking lot though. Don't park anywhere along the roads as you will get ticketed and/or towed. Arrive early aa the parking lots fill up quickly, especially on weekends. Personally I wouldn't do this trail on a rainy day especially if you're a beginner. Lots of stepping stones that can be slippery when wet. Other than that it's one of the most beautiful trails I've been on.

One of the best water falls in NE! Mid-week late summer…read moreafternoon visit. There was a park(?) officer at the entrance sitting in the car waving as people left. There was also a table at the entrance to the trails with a person who didn't have much knowledge of the trails nor falls?? Spent 75 minutes and was able to hike upper, mid, lower falls and plenty of time to explorer. The trail to the viewpoint is very short and easy to find. The location provides an excellent long range mountain views, however, a mediocre view to the entire falls IMO. There was little water when I visited in mid- September and leaves hadn't changed colors yet. The trail to the falls is NOT marked very well after the initial 2 signs. I met a man with a cute dog who mountain biked but never found the falls! Many on the trail said they continued on stairs (straight) that didn't go to the falls! If you want to just hike without the Falls as the end goal, then this park works for you. Otherwise, download the trail map or access Alltrails prior to arriving. Lucky for me I received an advice from returning hikers who knew the park and advised me well :). The KF hikes are not long but are pretty steep... scrambling maybe required especially to get to the cove behind the upper falls. The KF trail split, to the bottom of the falls and to the mid- falls, is pretty close. So, the view to the entire falls was worth hiking down to. The trail near the bottom of the falls is red rock stairs and well maintained. Recommend water, sun protection and decent treaded shoes for gravel and roots. Bugs were minimal during my visit. There is no running water but a port-a-potty at Laurel House parking lot. Parking was a gravel lot and was about 2/3 full. Enjoy!

Very clean and beautiful scenery. There is a small playground for the kids with picnic tables and a…read morehorseshoe pit. The lake has paddle boarding, paddle boats and more. The grounds also consists of a small snack stand as well.

It's a small manmade lake with beautiful views of the Catskills mountains. Perfect for a hot…read moresummer day. They rent canoes, and paddle boats. There's also a small playground. The food is nothing special... standard fast food and ice cream, etc. This place is fun for everyone and an inexpensive way to spend a day especially if you have kids. There were lots of people there but it didn't feel crowded. The beach was clean and the water was clear and refreshing. If you're adventurous and have the time, there is a lengthy hike that is connected to the complex that goes all the way to the top of the Belleayre Mountain.

We found this to be a well-kept, well-managed park. It was my first time camping here and we had a…read morelarge, quiet site. Quiet hours were listed and enforced, which I loved. Our grandkids loved the beach and play ground and we all enjoyed the beauty of the area. Hot showers were available, at no extra cost, for campers and the rest room were clean. We used the fire pit each morning and evening and thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience in the large and beautiful state park.

First time visiting this park and was impressed that we were able to find a picnic table even at…read more1pm on a Sunday afternoon. Nice tree covered picnic areas with BBQ grills close by although we brought sandwiches wth us. We should have taken our time choosing a spot so we should have went towards the snack bar beach location instead. Saw several paddle boarder kayaks in the lake and a few people swimming.

This park is absolutely beautiful. Great views! It is a must see if in the Hudson valley area. New…read moreYork does have some pretty spectacular mountains. It's a nice clean park. Lots of picnic tables. It's nice to go somewhere and people actually adhere to the no smoking/vaping signs.

I made my Gunks debut yesterday and was pretty impressed despite the very meh weather situation…read more This is about 90 minutes from my HQ so probably right at the limit of a convenient day hike, and somehow I've never really been in this area before beyond travelling past it going up and down the NY Thruway. Definitely returning when the sun is actually out. I did the 8.7-mile Castle Point hike (my gut says it wasn't QUITE that long, but I don't want to argue with my book) from the Awosting parking lot down the Mossy Glen Trail (yellow blazes), making a left onto and up Blueberry Run (blue) to Castle Point itself, and then went basically straight down the cliff on the Scenic Trail (lavenderish and formerly light blue), down the Rainbow Falls Trail (orange) and finally making a right on the Lower Awosting Carriageway back to the parking lot. Wasn't crazy about the $10 fee to park - nature shouldn't cost anything - but it is what it is. It's really a shame the weather was crappy because I could tell that viewpoint at Castle Point is legit - it's sprawling and you can see for miles in almost every direction. That's a very cool spot and easily the highlight of the hike. There are some interesting viewpoints throughout the rest of the adventure, but I'd say they're primarily of rock formations and water features, which have their selling points but nothing beats a view at the top. I'm in decent hiking shape right now, and this was just not particularly challenging for me. The only part where I was even a little out of breath (and it was humid, so grain of salt in that regard) was on Blueberry Run, which was a pretty steady incline up, but really not hardcore at all from my perspective. The drop down from Castle Point on the Scenic Trail IS a little tricky and you really want to spend some time there figuring out where your foot is going to go next. Compared to other parks in the tristate area, this one definitely has more hazards, cliffs you could potentially fall down, etc. But same token, it has a ton of these completely flat carriageways as well. It rained while I was on the Rainbow Falls trail and I DID slip/fall on some of the rocks at one point, but that's on me since I willingly came over here knowing what the forecast was. Wasn't impressed by the Rainbow Falls themselves, and neither were the other hikers who were there at the time. Maybe it was just not an ideal situation for them, but it's been rainy the last few days so unclear when you should take advantage of the optics there. The trail blazes were EXCELLENT, easily some of the best I've ever encountered. Each official trail had an accompanying sign that not only gave you the name of the trail, but a map of the nearby area, the grade profile so you can see what types of inclines/declines you'll experience on that trail and tons of basic facts. Really well done stuff. The bathroom situation was pretty good as well, with ample restroom options in the parking lot albeit without plumbing. You get what you get, but I'll take a clean bathroom situation in a heartbeat, regardless. Okay wildlife sightings. The rain I'm sure kept some of the good quality shizzle away, but I got a cool shot of a black vulture and saw an edgy newt. Worth the trek and will return for further investigation shortly.

I love this place I beg to go and I love it more than the pool and beach…read more Nice big beautiful Place to go to and quite

This is a hidden gem located about 2 1/2 hours away from NYC. It's a beautiful water fall where you…read morecan swim and spend the day enjoying the nature Note that they recently implemented a system in which you need to get a pass to go in the weekends to prevent overcrowd. Please check the link below for details. The water, however, is very cold even during summer months so be prepared. GPS coordinates to get there: +41 54.902, -74 25.735 You can find further details in: https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/109922.html

Candlewood Lake is the largest lake in Connecticut. It spans 5,420 acres, 11 miles long, 2 miles…read morewide, 65 miles of shoreline, depth up to 90 feet, and has 12 islands. It also borders five towns: Danbury, New Milford, Brookfield, Sherman,and New Fairfield. This is a very popular place for all kinds of water sports, and bass and trout fishing. There are two state boat launches and many marinas for docking. The shoreline has so many magnificent homes, and don't be surprised if you see a seaplane landing or taking off on the lake. This lake usually gets very busy on the weekends in the summer.

Have not been on the lake for quite a while and decided to give it a shot. Ok, so it was a really…read morenice Sunday and I know it will be busy, and my expectations were that it would be busy. Launch at Lattin's Cove was solid jammed and the number of rude idiots just simply ASTOUNDING. No courtesy for other boaters/pwc's whatsoever. Couple of morons were camped out on the dock and screwed up everyone else's put in/take out routine. No surprise to see the NJ and NY registrations on their PWCs. While coming back in, 3 idiots on PWC's came screaming past us in the no wake zone to "beat" us to the ramp, then they sat there blocking one side of the launch. One fellow asked nicely if they could move over just a bit so he could launch his pwc and he got snapped at by one of the tattoo queens... "we're leaving in a couple of minutes". Definitely will not go back here on a weekend anytime soon. Very sad because it never used to be like this.

A peaceful, pristine, little bit of paradise on a hot summer's day. The water is so crisp and cool…read more Parking is limited and the walk down can be a bit for some, .20 miles down a rocky incline, but once you get here it's worth it. This is a take in/take out facility-please take your trash with you. No public facilities so plan accordingly. This is NATURE, enjoy

Whether it's a full swim, wet our toes or be near water (even in winter), hubs is forever finding…read moreany body of water to explore. I had read about Big Deep- but we never found it in all the years we've visited Woodstock, NY until the Summer of '22. Big Deep reminded me of the movie, 'The Beach'. Wait up though- this is a much smaller, smaller, smaller, smaller, smaller and rugged version of the movie and a farrrrrrrrrr stretch from that lush and tropical beach setting. So paradise, is not. At its best, Big Deep is only (and I mean only) a patch of some water (a lot of it has receded), lots of trees blocking the Sun and a bunch of rocks. Get some legit water sandals to avoid walking bare feet on rocks, scraping your skin- otherwise, pray you don't break a toe. Don't drive too fast or you'll miss it. Big Deep has designated paved drivable entrance and exit paths. After you're parked, it's a trek on more paved paths to get to 'the beach', lake or whatever you wanna call it. I'm not glorifying Big Deep- but it is secluded in its own bizarre way. Some blogs have mentioned this may be/will be closed off. If you feel like you want to put up with this scene, by all means. It's $0 to get in (from the last time we were here).