This summer I had an incredible family vacation with my daughter and my mom. It was such a cool experience to have all 3 generations together. During our week in Upstate New York we were looking to find something unique to do. After asking around I heard of 2 super cool state parks that were in the vicinity. After realizing that one of them was only 30 minutes away, I knew which one we would be visiting... Stony Brook State Park.
When I googled it I saw what looked like an amazing experience; one of those places you only see in pictures or in movies. A gorge that had been carved by the retreating glaciers after the last ice age with 3 breathtaking waterfalls left behind. Seriously stunning. Trying to capture the glorious vistas in a photo is near impossible, the scale is so grand!
Here's a little of what we found while exploring Stony Brook......
The first thing we saw was the river flowing over slabs of flat rock within the cavern of sheer faced cliffs. Some trees have managed to grab a foothold within the rocky valley, giving great moments of shade in the middle of the day, as well as adding a certain softness to juxtapose against the hard walls that shows the beautiful compositions that only nature can craft.
As we wandered up the meandering stream, we came across small waterfalls where the slow moving water cascaded over small drops and flowed into large expanses of ankle deep and sparkling clear water. While this looked like a beautiful place to stop and hang out, I was really anxious to get to the good stuff... the waterfalls!!
Speaking of waterfalls, we apparently didn't think about all the stairs we were likely to encounter, because we were pooped from all that climbing! Did I mention that there are 3 waterfalls in the park, varying from 20' to over 40' high?!?! So yeah, there was a lot of climbing involved. My mom (shown here) did great with it... I was super impressed. :) She also decided to count the stairs when we were climbing up along the tallest of the 3 falls... over 125 steps in total. And that was just that one run of steps! There were also areas where we were walking on the bare rock along the creek bed.
**Hint: wear shoes with a good grip, because where the bare rock gets wet it's quite slippery!**
When you first come across the falls you're confronted with the sheer scale and grandeur of them. To put that into perspective, you can see my daughter perched on an outcropping of rock in the shade to the right of this waterfall. Can you find her? She's just dwarfed by this fall. Seriously amazing.
To see the entire fall with the corresponding swimming hole and flat tanning rocks (at least that's what I would use them for! lol) with the curved staircase that's been carved right into the rock is just breathtaking. That water just looked so inviting, I couldn't wait to jump in. I mean, look at all the fun that's being had out there!
May I just re-emphasis the stairs?!! Oh my gosh, I felt like I had spent 2 hours at the gym on the StairMaster by the end of our hike through this delightful park. Here's my mama on the last big run of stairs we had to tackle to get to the swimming area. They were daunting, but golly, it felt good to know you had accomplished it when you got to the other end.
Here goes my gorgeous and adventurous daughter, jumping right in. She say's "the water's fine!!" Not sure if I believe her though... there seems to be something mischievous going on in her expression.
Looks like I was right to be concerned... this gasp from my mom when she first settled into the water was priceless! I stuck my toes in and that water was seriously cold, like ice water. Apparently when the water comes from mountain tops, it's frigid. Coming from South Florida, where the water is always warm, it came as quite a surprise!
Which is why I opted on avoiding the water and concentrated my time on sunbathing and sightseeing. Don't I look nice and warm and comfortable? That's cause I was. ;)
At the end of the day, we had such an awesome time at Stony Brook. New vistas are revealed at each bend of the river as it follows its sensuous path through the canyon, creating a sense of exploration and discovery. But the time spent with family will be the most precious memory brought home from our day at the park.
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