Find Family-Friendly, Outdoor Fun at
Chenango Valley State Park
The Page Brook trail at Chenango Valley State Park is seen in July 2020. Contributed. BY ALLISON COLLINS
Chenango Valley State Park, 153 State Park Road, Chenango Forks, offers 1,400 acres of fun for families, nature lovers, golfers, geology buffs and more. Park Manager Mike Boyle said the property’s offerings are diverse and distinct. “In New York State, we have such a vast variety of state parks, and some of the great characteristics that do draw people to this park are the day-use functions that we have; the general features are just great … and there’s some good stuff to do and it’s for all ages,” he said. “There’s a lot of mountain bikers in this area and a lot that come to the area for this. Our park has well over 25 miles of trails and they’re all multi-use trails. We’re kind of secluded and in a rural area, and at night, it’s beautiful here because there’s no light illumination from cities, so when you’re looking up, you’re seeing true night sky … and people really love that. 30
“The park itself has 24 cabin rentals and 185 campsites; a beautiful lake for fishing, swimming and boating, and another lake we leave completely natural and don’t allow any recreation, to allow for the ecosystem to stay natural (because) we have some rare plant and dragonfly species here that we need to protect; we also just recently had a splash pad built for the younger generation and really little kids, and that’s a huge draw,” Boyle continued. “We also improved our swimming area to include not just a diving board but a water slide, so that’s a little more fun, and for our day-use people, we have picnicking and, on top of all the cool things we have for the park side, we also have an 18-hole golf course with its own clubhouse and pro shop. It’s just like a private course, but nestled within the park boundaries.” Though the camp is open year-round, Boyle noted, overnight guests and campers are welcome “between the middle of May and Columbus Weekend.”
The park also hosts annual events, Boyle said, including outdoor hockey tournaments, open sledding, Easter egg hunts, family fishing days, an August family fun day, Halloween parties and more. And the grounds are utilized, he noted, by area sports teams. The park’s geologic features, Boyle said, further its appeal. The park’s two lakes, nicknamed Lily and Chenango, are considered kettle lakes. “Because of the last ice age, as it was receding, it dropped large chunks of ice and, for hundreds of years, those chunks melted off,” he said. “As they were melting, the weight put depressions in the ground and that’s basically where (the lakes) came from. Those depressions formed in the ground and, later in the ecological growth of things, the water runoff started filling these depressions and that’s how the lakes were formed. “Because of (that), we’re on basically on a gravel bed,” Boyle continued. “When
