Buffalo - Americas Best Designed City - has a park system designed by the one and only Frederick…read moreLaw Olmsted, "father of American landscape architecture". He believed the purpose of parks (green space) was to "refresh and delight the eye and through the eye, mind and spirit." He is the reason we have so many parks around the city. While they used to have other names, the first three he planned are Delaware Park, Front Park and Martin Luther King Jr. Park. They were all linked with parkways. Then the added South Park and Cazenovia Park, which were specifically for the people who lived in those areas and could not easily access the other three parks. How great is that? Then came Riverside Park. The six parks are connected by parkways. There are also circles, and a few smaller parks here and there. The conservancy is a non-profit that works hard to increase awareness of the parks, increase people understanidng of the value of them, and most importantly helps maintain them. Much through donations from everyday people, like those who live in Buffalo. 1700

On the Buffalo River there is an older park. Its not part of the Olmstead System. Views of the…read moreriver and the silos from here are very nice. Named after Father Conway, who was a WWII chaplain. Father Conway was not a Buffalo native, but he did have his parish here. He attended Niagara University and was ordained in 1934 to the priesthood for the Diocese of Buffalo. He worked in many of the local area churches, including St Rose of Lima and St Brigid. His hobby was sailing Lake Erie in a small sailboat. He was very much appreciated by the blue collar parishioners he tended to. He enlisted in 1942, and eventually found himself on the USS Indianapolis, which was torpedoed. While he survived for three days tending to the other sailors in the water with him, he was one of those lost. About 300 survived and they all told tales about Father Conway going from man to man to preach and encourage him as they treaded water waiting for rescue. Upon the news of his death, locals in Buffalo wanted to do something to remember him. Initially the park was not as well kept up as it is now, but under Mayor Masiello the park got signage and fencing and became a real neighborhood park, which is used by many today. Nice place to have a picnic with the breezes off the water.

I play at the softball fields at Conway park and they could be maintained a lot better than they…read moreare. There are two softball diamonds and whenever there is a rain storm, you can guarantee the games are going to be cancelled because the field don't hold water well at all. The grass is overgrown and the woodsy areas could be much more well kept. Parking at field two is difficult. You either have to ride over the grass or park in the lot behind the field and trek through the tall grass and weeds and cross your fingers that you don't get poison ivy. There also aren't any porta-potties nearby which makes for a difficult situation in the 5th inning after you've consumed three beers and a 16 oz water bottle. What? It's a beer league. Anyways, in addition to having no porta-potties around, there really isn't anything around here. There is one gas station attached to a convenience store that is in rough shape. They have a bathroom, but regardless of whether or not you buy something from the store, they won't let you use it. I have to give Conway Park three stars however, because we have way too much fun when we play at these fields.

Very nice park located along the Upper Niagara River. Many people come here to fish as there's…read morealways someone here fishing, it seems. The sunsets seeen from this location are really nice with no distractions, as in other parks or locations: overhead wires/wires, too many tall trees, etc. Lots of ample parking with an overflow lot, and a pavillion for summer concerts!! Also popular with two very illuminated huge military memorials dedicated to the fighting Seabees of the Navy, and another just as big dedicated to the US Marine Corps! Both memorials are close to the busy River Road and well-lit at night!

LOVE this gym!! We've gone for going on three sessions - close to 30 weeks straight. My girls love…read morethe songs, free play, and teachers. We all look forward to it every week!

My family loves it here!!! I can not give this place enough stars to tell you how amazing the staff…read moreand business is. The owner Jim and his wife and kids (all family owned) are all hand on and very active in the business. Jim the owner is very nice, helpful and easy to talk to. Rollies is a place for all age groups from 6months of age ( which is when my kids started) all the way past teenage years. I love the learning of mobility and socializing expiring new experiences every time they attend a class. My kids loved the instructors as they are all dedicated to the job and educated on the development of assisting the children on the reasons of why they are doing each step in the class. Development of your child will be mind blowing as the time goes on each session of how much your little one has developed in each way. My youngest has learned how to confidently crawl up and down inclines, be able to go upside down without freaking out, tumble safety, slide down big slides ( they have an awesome bounce house for the kids to use), and use his grip to learn to hang from rings or a simple rod. Bonding with your children during classes is also an amazing feature to have that connection with them while they are learning is incredible. Classes run 45 minutes long. They have different classes for different age brackets also. Encouraging them to try and seeing their faces when they succeed is priceless!!! Plus you and your little one get to meet new friends/parents of the same age which is so nice to do during this time when we have all be stuck inside alone for so long during this pandemic. Building the self esteem in my children so when they have real life situations is so important and feel they get that from Rollie's! Whether at school while I'm not around or when they go to a friends place I feel confident they can manage what challenges them on the playground or sports activities. They learn it all from Rollie's and they keep learning new activities all the time. They also have amazing birthday packages which we have done where the kids have a separate room to be able to eat and open presents and then they go into the gym and play to let out all that energy in an safe environment.

If they ever bulldoze this soccer field, I'll be like, "omg! They killed Kenney!" But hopefully…read morethat totally never happens. Because I'm a big fan, in fact this is where I played some of the biggest soccer games of my amateur grown-up life once I moved to Buffalo. Under the floodlights late in the evening, playing for the Eagles, we had some great moments here. Through balls, defensive blocks, epic crosses, and a very famous last minute goal by JG (hey if you're reading, that was an awesome strike!), and those memories will last forever. I actually felt like an American on those nights. Like I'd never been born and raised in a pessimistic negative rough and harsh society like I was. As if I'd been one of the dreamers, the Hollywood kids, the baseball kids, the cotton candy Kool Aid kids, and yes I must have been drinking the Kool Aid before writing this. Suffice to say, I always loved this field, and I always will.

I imagine most people come here for one of two reasons. The memorial. Or the soccer…read more This is a field. Hence the name. In the heart of the town the traffic does flow by here. It has various bleacher seats set up for what are presumably soccer games, based on the goals. There are picnic tables under a covered area. Nice for a hot sunny day. Small playground area. Then there's a large veterans memorial here which is beautiful. All names inscribed by military branch. Many trees and benches in honor of the fallen. Large easy parking lot. 1125

So this park has had a bunch of changes. They have redone the baseball fields and put some more…read morestuff in the playground area. They took out lots of the trees, which is too bad from a shade flavors, but I think the trees were unhealthy, so probably needed. The little league baseball is back, and there weren't as many masks or as much social distancing as I would have preferred. But hopefully everyone is vaccinated. Update 122 2021

Neighborhood park off Hertel in North Buffalo. Very lively on a spring day like today 4/6/21…read more Lots of kids playing and swinging, strollers strolling, basketballs hooping! Park has seen better days, looks like a renovation of the facilities and pick up of trash is much needed. There is a nice pathway to walk, jog or roller blade. Baseball diamonds were not in use. I'd come back if I the neighborhood again. Some folks walking their dogs who live nearby. I should add: one of the Highlights to coming to this park is strolling down Hertel and enjoying a variety of eateries and unique businesses. After this visit to the park, I enjoyed a bowl of delicious ice cream from Lake Effect! Always a treat!

Lake Erie Watersports offers rentals for stand up paddle boards, single and tandem kayaks, fat tire…read morebikes (great for riding in the sand) and kiteboarding. There are also lessons available for kiteboarding. They will make sure you are covered if you want to enjoy some active time when you are at the beach. I was lucky to come across this awesome business through a local event, Paddle through the Past for the Town of Evans Bicentennial. Lake Erie Watersports partnered with the Town of Evans for the event and donated some equipment rentals so people could participate. I greatly appreciated this because I myself don't own a stand up paddle board. I also admire a business owner who shares what they have and what they love with their community. Kris, the owner was very friendly and helpful. It was easy to arrange my rental and get the details of what I needed to do from her. She attended the event and was also a participant. This was my first time paddle boarding at 18 mile creek and I didn't realize it would be different than going in the lake. It was obvious she was the expert and gave some great tips on how to navigate through the creek because some areas are more shallow than others. If you want to try stand up paddle boarding it might be easier to learn in the creek if it's deep enough. The lake can get too rough quickly and it can be frustrating if you can't get up at first. You can park at Lake Erie Watersports or they can deliver your rentals to you. Your location must be within 10 miles of Angola. I highly recommend them for your summer outdoor rental needs!

In another life, when I was a reporter, I did a story on this place. I never checked it out. My…read moreaunt has always talked about it and we all made plans a week after to go for a brisk walk on the trail. There are a few entrances onto the trail; the two main entrances, the start and end, or vice versa, of the trail is Union Road by the junk yard, across from the Erie County Water Authority (there is a parking lot), and Medina Street. If you start on Medina Street, you have to cross William Street to continue on the trail. I would recommend just starting on Strawn Ave., to avoid the traffic and potential hazardous experiences crossing traffic. If you don't start the trail from the two end points, you can pick it up at Stradtman Street, which has a parking lot, Kennedy, St. Felix, and Ludwig Ave. We were there around 7pm on a Monday and it was pretty active with walkers, bikers, and dog walkers. It is a great little trail parallel with the railroad track. I like that they made use of this space for recreational purposes instead of not doing anything with it at all. It is peaceful and a cool path. I would recommend going with at least one other person because it is secluded, by train tracks, and you don't want to end up on a true crime podcast. I didn't feel in jeopardy at all, but you always want to be safe. We brought Cooper, my mom's dog, and he ended up going to the bathroom twice. We only had one bag. It was ok though, because along the trail there are bags for such things and garbage cans. I loved that feature. It keeps the trail extra clean too. Wildlife report: Bunnies. No deer on the night we went.