Grafton Lakes State Park
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Grafton Lakes State Park is a
state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...
located in
Rensselaer County Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 161,130. Its county seat is Troy. The county is named in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the la ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, United States. The park is in the central part of the Town of Grafton and north of the hamlet of Grafton on NY Route 2, northeast of Albany. The park contains the Shaver Pond Nature Center.


Park description

Grafton Lakes State Park was opened in 1971. It contains several lakes, including Long Pond, Mill Pond, and Second Pond. The park offers a beach, a boat launch and boat rentals, a bridle path, hunting (
deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...
and
small game Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products (primarily meat), for recreation (" sporting"), or for trophies. The species of animals hunted as game varies in different parts of the world and by different local jurisdictions, thou ...
in season), fishing and ice fishing (
trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...
, pickerel,
perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...
, and bass), ice skating, hiking and biking, picnic tables and pavilions, a nature trail, a playground, recreation programs, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and a food concession. Swimming is open daily from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day from 10am-6pm, and gate fees are $8/car. The park has long been used for orienteering. It was first mapped in 1980 by Mark Domonie, and drafted by Bill Jameson. The park was the site of the 1981 US Intercollegiate Championships. A permanent course (called Trim-O) was expected to be placed in the park in 2008.


Shaver Pond Nature Center

Located within the park is the Shaver Pond Nature Center, which provides outdoor recreation and environmental educational programs and is handicap accessible. The center stands at the beginning of of trails. Besides scheduled programs, the facility may be rented for club meetings. Shaver Pond Nature Center also houses the
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (informally referred to as NYSDEC, DEC, EnCon or NYSENCON) is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protection ...
's Air and Acid Rain Deposition Monitoring Site.


See also

*
List of New York state parks This is a list of state parks in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Also listed are state golf courses, seasonal hunting areas, and ''former'' state parks. In New York, state parks are managed by the New York State Office of Parks, Re ...


References


External links


New York State Parks: Grafton Lakes State Park
State parks of New York (state) Robert Moses projects Parks in Rensselaer County, New York Nature centers in New York (state) {{RensselaerCountyNY-geo-stub