Totally blown away by the architecture in this area. I don't know why I've never taken the time to…read moretake a walk when I'm around here but my mind was blown. Everything is beautiful as the leaves are changing colors with the temps are dropping. The area is a little sketchy with quite a few people acting odd. Some of the streets around the area. I even found a few places that were serving food but due to Covid none of them allowed dine in.

$6 entrance fee. Park has beach access to Oneida lake. Swimming is available during the summer…read more Lots of places to hang out and bbq or have family reunions, picnics or just a birthday party for groups of all sizes. Ample parking for most days. Sometimes in the summer months there is blue-green algae which causes the swimming area to be closed. Website normally will indicate this so check ahead if you are set on going swimming. This summer they had an inflatable slide so there was something for the kiddos to do besides swimming. All in all a nice park if you are in the area. Camping is available as well so you can camp out here and spend more time if that is in your plan.

I recently went on a weekend long camping trip with my father and stayed at the Verona Beach State…read morePark in upstate New York. My pops, who is now retired, purchased a recreational vehicle and has embraced camping as his new favorite past time. He has asked me several times to join him on an excursion and though I'm not very outdoorsy I finally relented. We pulled into Verona State Park on a Friday afternoon and even though it was early September and nearing the end of the season, the campground was still fairly crowded. The snack bar and store closed after Labor Day but I spent most of my time at the nearby Turning Stone Casino and didn't mind missing out on a few amenities. The park was immaculate, with clean shower rooms and nary a piece of litter in sight. The employees at Verona Beach obviously took their job very seriously and some were a tad overzealous. The workers frequently drove through the campgrounds, patrolling the area and enforcing their rules. I took a walk alongside Oneida Lake after dark and apparently violated one of the sacred rules, receiving a stern warning from the park ranger. I understand why camps only allow power generators during certain hours; gennies can often be noisy and we should preserve the sanctity of nature. On Saturday night we were caught in the middle of a thunderstorm and it rained for hours. I expected the rangers to be a little more lax on generator hours during the storm, when most campers are stuck inside and need electric to power their televisions and stave off boredom. The television in our RV only picked up local channels so we watched an old episode of Wonder Woman featuring special guest star Leif Garrett. Even during a downpour the rangers at Verona State ruled with an iron first, banging on the door of the RV like an angry police officer all because our generator was left on for a few extra minutes.

Unbelievable Gem of a park. Like many of the long-forgotten NYS Parks that have remained…read moreunderfunded and understaffed, visitors can immediately tell this park used to be a prime tourist destination once-upon a time. A walk around the park revealed that it once had a multitude of well-maintained campsites complete with running water to each site and a bathhouse within walking distance. All campsites appear to be ready to re-open if money would be provided for proper maintenance. Maybe cabins could be built on the dozens of once used camping lots... why not? This park is still very well maintained. Very clean facilities with all lawn areas / shrubs / trees well kept. Very interesting park to walk around. Incredible forest growth, very old trees providing plenty of shade while walking around the park. There appears to be two very nice hiking trails to explore. One on the South-end of the park that winds through the long-forgotten campsites of yesteryear. Another trail to the West of the swim area leads down to a secluded beach area. Park has excellent well-maintained pavilions with very large BBQ pits and plenty of seating. Admittedly the #1 problem with these pavilions appears to be the number of mosquitoes within the vicinity. Would it be too expensive / cost prohibitive to add mosquito netting around the perimeter of the pavilions?? Seems an easy fix to attract more visitors to use and pay for the use of facilities. Even a small pavilion with some netting over a few of the picnic tables would go a long way toward attracting visitors. This is a beautiful park in a beautiful and historic neighborhood. This was a delight to check out while I was visiting the town of Remsen across the lake. Well-worth the trip and I will be returning.

This was my first time at Fort Rickey, and it was a perfect day! All of the animals were active,…read moreand it was so cool to see them up close. Our capybara-loving kid was over-the-moon to get to feed the capybaras, and I think a piece of me was healed after snuggling with baby goats. The admission prices were very reasonable, especially with so much to do. We could not have had a better experience, from the friendly bird who played with us when we checked in, to all of the animal presentations and encounters. You can tell the animals are well-taken care of and happy, and the employees are, too. We were really impressed with how knowledgeable the employees were, and how great they are with the kids and families. They explained all of the safety rules clearly, and they had great enthusiasm and patience. To top it off, our kids loved getting to play on the playground, in the play place, and on the massive trampoline. Pro tip: bring a little extra cash and quarters to get some extra food for some of the animals. Core memories were created for sure, and we hope to come back on our next visit.

The Fort Rickey Discovery Zoo is fucking AWESOME…read more We needed a place for a stopover with the kids to break up a long drive. We looked into activities in Utica and area, and someone suggested this place. We had no idea what to expect and pulling into the parking lot, were prepared to be underwhelmed. We were so wrong. Think your typical, big city zoo, and take away all the stuff you don't like, and add in more of the stuff that you do like. For example, make the size of the zoo manageable for kids to walk around. Instead of having 11,000 species of animals that most people don't care that much about, have a smaller place where you really get to be up close. Then add in more interaction - literally every 30 minutes there is something on the schedule for kids to go play with goats, or touch a porcupine. And then throw in a kids play area, and clean bathrooms! Skip the Utica Zoo and come here. 10/10 would recommend for families looking for a fun way to spend 3 or more hours of their day.

The park is very nice and the pool is clean. Went there for a family party they rent out pavilions.read more

Was out for celebration 250 events including a craft fair. Love coming to Sylvan Beach was is a…read morequaint lakeside tourist town which tends to be more of a season based local. This is a lakeside beach community located on the Eastern shore of Lake Oneida. They have an amusement park and always seem to have lots of outdoor events. Walkable downtown area and a number of great restaurants.

I litterally watched a parking meter officer ticket three cars, the owners of which had no idea…read morethere was a parking fee because they didn't see the small sign at the end of the parking lot (a fourth person just happened to see the sign at the last minute). In at least two of the cases, the officer could have easily told the drivers there was a fee but instead waited for them to turn the corner and then went and ticketed the cars. My guess is that this is the way the town survives financially. On a positive note, the outdoor seating and wait staff at the Lakehouse were very good.

This is not your large city zoo, it is small and 90% outdoors, so a snowy winter day not the best…read moreidea, haha. That being said for small children it's perfect, a nice walk, easy to see the exhibits. Personally I think the areas are too small for the animals and wouldn't visit again. Price point and membership options do make it affordable for families.

What a cute zoo! We were in town for the Boilermaker race and looking for other things to do. I'm…read moreglad we went because the animals at this zoo are obviously happy to see visitors. I had a Moment (big M) with the ostrich ladies who came right up to their fence and shared all their gossip. They even followed in parallel as my husband and I walked on the path. Well worth the visit, lots of parking, it can be sunny and hot in the summer so bring your water and wear your coral-safe sunscreen.

I arrived at Hinckley at 10:30 am (park AND beach open at 10 am). There was no lifeguard when I got…read moreto the beach area even though the guy collecting $10 to park said there are 2 on all day so there would be one on duty at all times. There are 2 lifeguards here. The lifeguards sat playing with their phones on benches near the bathhouses until noon while families waited to get into the water. The no lifeguard on duty/no swimming sign was up that entire time. Every family here, including me, paid $10 to enter. For what? If you can't staff the park, close it entirely or don't charge and make it at your own risk. Secondly, there are No Smoking signs all over the place. I don't smoke, but apparently the staff member charging to park does as he has been smoking while riding his cart around collecting $10.

I experienced great lifeguards, great place to go to swim. I'm not sure what the other review was…read moretalking about. I think that was probably just a misunderstanding that wasn't addressed by the reviewer. 5/5 stars would recommend