2020-06-25: Allegany State Park

On the last leg of my mini-tour of New York, I hit Allegany State Park, the state's largest park, located near the Allegany Reservation in the southwest portion of the state. Allegany State Park has a wide variety of available activities, including hiking, boating, and fishing, along with a number of interesting natural and historical features. Although I didn't spend long in the park I did stop to see several of its attractions.

A view over the city of Salamanca and surrounding hills from an overlook on the way into the park.

Tall grasses partly obscure the view towards a ranch in Salamanca.

The Stone Tower was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression, and used as a lookout and fire tower for many years.

Looking northeast from the tower's top, towards the Great Valley.

A shot showing the top of the tower. Although it was recently fixed up, vandalism remains a serious problem.

Survey marker near the tower.

Trees and hills along Red House Lake, one of the park's most popular features.

Although rising steeply, the Alleghenies don't quite appear worth of the label "mountains" here.

A footpath winds around the lake, passing over the dam at its northwestern end. A bridge on the far side of the dam is seen here.

More hills and a pine-covered peninsula surround the southern portions of Red House Lake.

The south entrance to the Thomas L. Kelly Covered Bridge, a wooden bridge on the Red House Brook, through which the footpath mentioned above goes.

Bright green bushes line the Red House Creek as it approaches the covered bridge.

A view of the full bridge seen from across the road.

Low water levels made the usually spectacular Bridal Veil Falls fall short of incredible.

During the spring and fall, water rushes down this rockface, covering it in white. In the heat of early summer it was reduced to a trickle flowing through some mossy stones.

Deep hemlock forest lines the Stoddard Creek below the Bridal Veil Falls.

The large U-shaped concrete spilloff on Quaker Lake is enough of an attraction to have its own overlook and a marker on Google Maps.

Fluffy clouds to the south belie the thunderstorm that started moments after this image was taken.

Having driven out of the thunderstorms, a series of rainbows along I-88 lit up the long drive home.