Hey, someone help me, how do you say this: Chautauqua? I struggled all day with trying to figure…read morethat out and still do not know how to say this. I had one condition to go on this road trip, I wanted to stop and see the Scary Lucy Statue. After seeing it online a few years ago, I just wanted to see it in person. We mapped it out and found our way to this park. The park, overall, is beautiful and a complete asset. There are pavilions, a boat slip, a playground, restrooms, and plenty of seating. When you park at the park and start to walk towards the grounds you are greeted by Lucy. Not Scary Lucy, but the Nice Lucy. The Lucy that commanded your attention as she is about to make her skirt flow. Almost like she was there to welcome you into the park and tell you to enjoy yourself while here. Weirdly enough, this statue, the more welcoming statue, is the older of the two statues of the park. We then made our way over to the Scary Lucy statue. Oof, what a statue it is. Unveiled in 2009, I'm sure a lot of people had to do a double take. I know and understand that they were attempting to pay tribute to this legend, but they really missed the mark. Enjoy the picture as that was what I got to see up close. What made it a bit more scary was the amount of spiderwebs all over the statue. After we took in the statues we walked about the park and ended up by the boat slip and lighthouse. We walked out on the pier and I have to say that this is some of the clearest water I have seen in a while. While there, we assisted a couple in launching their boat, well, my brother did, I had my camera taking a tong of pictures. With the view taken in and statues seen, we decided to get on the road and keep on trucking down the road.

We visited this park on a particularly cloudy and overcast day which made it harder to view view…read morethe sculptures than I would have liked but the park sits on a lake and I personally enjoy the gloomy weather so I was excited to stop here. There is a big parking lot which makes it easy to stop and a large playground area right when you get out of your car. They also have benches and picnic areas and we spotted a small lighthouse near the water that we walked over to check out. It looked very cool. Our reason for stopping here however was obviously the statues of Lucille Ball. There are two of them. The newer prettier Lucy statue is charming and super well done. I loved seeing her in the classic polka dot dress! (My dog had on a cute little plaid dress that day so I had to get her in the photo as well) The older statue though that is referred to as the ugly one was honestly terrible. The nod to vitameatavegamin was awesome and honestly I think it probably wouldn't have seemed so bad had I not seen the pretty sculpture first, but honestly it's a little shocking. Unfortunately, it was overcast like I said so it was difficult to get good pictures of anything but if you're an Isle of Lucy fan or even just passing through the area, this park is definitely worth a visit. It only takes a few minutes to see the statues and you can enjoy some nice scenery by the water.

We Did the blue, red and yellow trails around the ponds off of Vail rd . Before that we started…read moredown the Cattauragus creek trail on other side of gorge but we decided we were not up for THAT challenge this time w/ 300 ft decend and climb. Fall colors were perfect and temp in 60s was great. Area is Somewhat developed but trails are rough and narrow in many places.

Have been going to Zoar Valley since my Dad started taking me back in the late 40's. The only…read morereason I gave it 4 stars is that it is not an area to mess around playing superman and such. There are people that need to get way to close to the unseerable overhang. They can and have taken a very long drop to the bottom. Play safe and it is a great place to enjoy hiking and swimming. Seem to have lost my pics. Figures.

first, why are there 3 separate listings for this park?…read morestayed recently in one of their cabins; enjoyed hiking, campfire, relaxing, walking around the lake. others have noted the many amenities and opportunities to recreate here, so i won't. snowshoeing and cross country skiing in the winter, so it's a year round destination. some of the cabins have heat, beds, kitchens!

Beautiful, spacious park with lots of amenities and plans to build more bath houses and lockers…read more Lots of cabins by the creek. Good size lake with canoe, kayak and peddle boat rentals ($15 an hour). Nice trails and rocks to climb. Could use more restrooms near the trails, though. Nice gift shop and restaurant in same bldg as the lodge. Benches around the lake and grassy area and a beach area is close to picnic tables and the boat house. Bike rentals available too. Very well maintained park. Police around also. Great place for camping and beautiful scenery.

We have visited this cute little park on the water on multiple occasions in both summer and winter…read more In summer they are in a prime spot on the lake for great views, a nice breeze and an awesome playground. It has different sections for older and younger kids, and a sand box! The bathrooms are close by, clean, and have showers for rinsing off sand. There is even a pavillion to rent if you are a local I hear it is a great deal for parties. There is a really nice path to walk around, and you can spot the Chautauqua Belle floating by if you are lucky! In the winter we attended the town's winter festival. Unfortunately the year we went it wasn't cold enough for the traditional ice castle made out of ice from the lake, but there was still plenty to do, from food, to craft shows, to the polar plunge, to a cool little railroad museum. It is definitely a park worth checking out in any season. The town is really cute with some nice restaurants and shops to check out. Definitely a great little day trip, no matter the season drive on down to visit this cute park!

This is one of the nicest rest areas we have been to. It's basically a visitor center and rest area…read morein one. There is lots of information inside on things to do in the area. I probably spent 30 minutes looking through the brochures here. They also have a bulletin board with events in the area but unfortunately it doesn't look like it gets updated . The majority of the flyers were from July and it is now October . It would have been nice to see current events and things happening in the area . They have vending machines and they even have a microwave for people to use, which is unique and very thoughtful. There is a button you can push inside if you need the police, so that helps with a feeling of safety and I did see a red and white sheriff's vehicle parked there with two deputies inside on my visit. There are lots of tables outside with chairs and a grassy area where you can take your pets. Plus the view of the water is very beautiful, especially right now with all the fall foliage.

This is one of the prettiest and nicest rest stops I have been too! Not only that but it has such…read morean amazing view of the lake. The bathrooms were super clean and there are a surplus of roadmaps, and vending machines.

This is an amusement park, small ,but takes you back to simple times. The park is mainly geared…read moretoward families with smaller children. Free parking and admission. They do have a few adult rides train, gokarts, bumper cars ferris wheeel, and giant slide. Smaller style arcade, clean bathrooms, gift shop, little museum , golf course and food. Reasonable ticket pricing for rides. I remember coming here both as a young child , and adult. I stopped in, honestly after the Beamus 6k, over at Long State Park. The main reason was to just check out park, neat mini golf and get pizza. Yes, I get they were not even quite open an hour when I arrived a little after noon. My reasoning for the 4 star review, no menu or anything listed on pricing for what was sold, or in my case if it was cheese or pepperoni. The young employee, when asked regarding Do you sell pizza, yes, cheese, pepperoni and I asked how much he said $5. A menu of items offered with pricing, would have been helpful.

Perfect if you have any small children, ideally ages six or under. This wouldn't be a good spot if…read moreyou were going with teens or just adults. I had never been here before in in spite of frequenting the Chautauqua area, my whole life. But, I finally had an occasion because my tiny niece was the perfect age for this place. There were a ton of rides that were perfect for her as a three year-old. Also, they had rides that were good for ages 4 to 6 as well. She really enjoyed the little roller coaster. Watch out that it is actually a little rough for the adults to ride on because it does jerk a little. Also, there were some really cute little boat rides, including one that took took the children around in a circle. There was very little that she was too small to ride on, so it was completely fantastic. Also, we were able to get her a wristband that gave her all inclusive access to rides. For a few rides that do require adult accompaniment for littles, the adult gets to ride free. There's a food spot towards the bottom of the hill and I highly recommend it. I was able to get platters of fries and corn, dogs and pizza, for not too much money. This is a clutch when it came to reducing the chance of overstimulated little kid meltdowns. Also, it was very sunny, and there was very little shade, so bring the sunscreen. Also, they have free boat parking. So, boating over and walking in is a great option if you happen to have or be renting a boat.

McCrae Point Park is owned and operated by the City of Jamestown, New York. It's a really small…read morepark but one that has a lot of history to it. Located on Jones and Gifford Avenue along the shores of the Chadakoin Outlet at digital GPS setting of 42.099755, -79.253011 it was the only site of organized Revolutionary military activity that took place in Chautauqua County, was an area visited and navigated by Capt. Celoron on his way down the Conewango to the Allegheny where he buried a lead plate as proof of claim of the surrounding lands in the name of France and served as the steam boat landing area for the many steamers including what I believe was the last, the "City of Jamestown," that took passengers and mail up the Chadakoin into waters of Chautauqua Lake. This is one of my most favorite of favorite parks because of its proximity along the Chadakoin which is shores are full of interesting wildlife such as wild ducks, frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, water snakes (harmless), bass, bullheads, bluegills & etc. As such it's just great for kids as well as for me, a 70 year old who is still enjoying a happy childhood. Though swimming isn't advisable, fishing is good and for me, a Floridian, nothing fear of alligators, crocodiles, pythons, Portuguese Man of War jellyfish, skin slicing sawgrass or panthers. It does, however, have some blood sucking "skeeters" during summer months but with no vicious infestation nearly approaching those of the Everglades.

Sadly, this used to be a very nice safe scenic walking spot. Due to the current refuge overflow…read morethis place can be terrifying after dark. During the day its safer unless you're near the viaduct area where homeless are camping and doing drugs 24/7. Don't walk there from dusk to after sun up unless you want to see iv drug use,see sex acts on benches, get asked for money, flashed genitals, get asked for cigarettes, or sexually harassed and/or followed like I was. I have my permit to carry and still don't feel safe there after dark anymore. It's pretty, so it's sad. We didn't have enough resources to take care of our own vets, low income, or homeless then they just dumped refugees onto our streets ontop of it. Very sad for everyone involved. They recently declared a state of emergency because we have nowhere to put them or any way to help them yet they are showing up in droves. They have no resources so theft has gone up all over the area.