Ellicott Creek Park is a park in Erie County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

of New York. The park is in the

Town of Tonawanda Tonawanda (formally the Town of Tonawanda) is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 72,636. The town is at the north border of the county and is the northern inner ring suburb of B ...

, northeast of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. The park lies between

Tonawanda Creek Tonawanda Creek is a small tributary of the Niagara River in Western New York, United States. After rising in Wyoming County, the stream flows through Genesee County before forming part of the boundary between Erie County and Niagara County. ...

and

Ellicott Creek Ellicott Creek is a stream in Western New York, United States. It is a tributary of Tonawanda Creek, which in turn flows into the Niagara River. Course Ellicott Creek originates in southwest corner of Genesee County, just northeast of Darien La ...

. Access is free and it is open to the public year-round. It is the smallest multi-purpose park operated by the Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry.

History

Ellicott Creek Park was among the first parks developed by Erie County. The park was established in 1926 with the county's purchase of of formerly private land, and was expanded in 1936 and 1937 through the annexation of county tax foreclosures. The park's facilities and landscapes were improved substantially by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

(WPA) throughout the 1930s. Ellicott Island was constructed to improve navigation on Ellicott Creek with the guidance of landscape architect Charles Ellicott. The park's popularity peaked in the 1930s and 1940s. However, the park's facilities were neglected and fell into disrepair between the 1970s and early 1990s, and the park soon earned a negative reputation. Following increased county attention leading to repairs at the park in the late 1990s, the park's popularity and attendance once again increased.

Facilities

*Since January 2014, the park's island has been a designated " Bark Park," where dogs are allowed to run un-leashed. *The Ellicott Creek Bike Path and the Erie Canalway Trail pass through the park. *The park features a soccer field, fishing access, tennis courts, playgrounds, and a canoe launch. *An 18-hole disc golf course was installed in 2010. *In the winter, a sledding hill and un-groomed cross-country skiing trails are available.

References

External links

Map of Ellicott Creek ParkFriends of Ellicott
Parks in Erie County, New York {{ErieCountyNY-geo-stub