Allegany State Park

The West is the Best
Allegany State Park - Overview

Adapted from 50 Hikes in Western New York by William P. Ehling

Allegany State Park stands alone among other state lands in terms of its sheer size, rugged terrain, dense forests and trail mileage.

Covering some 62,000 acres in southern Cattaraugus County, Allegany State Park is the largest in New York State and seems more like a wilderness park. Its size and its natural beauty have led the state to speak of Allegany State Park as the “matriarch” of New York's park system.

The park contains 135 miles of marked trails for hiking, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling, and almost twice as many miles of unmarked routes, including old railroad grades, long-forgotten wagon roads, former hiking trails, and other little-used paths.

Of special interest to hikers is the park's hiking trail system, which contains 18 specially designated, groomed, and marked walking trails, covering 53 miles of some of the finest hiking territory in Western New York.

All the hiking trails have names for easy identification, and the park provides maps showing where they can be found. They range in distance from a half-mile to 18 miles. The 18-mile trail is part of the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT), which is marked by both blue metal discs and white blazes painted on trees. On the park map, the FLT is identified as the North Country Trail (NCT).

Allegany State Park,New York

Signboards with encased topographical maps (USGS 7.5-minute series) stand at all trailheads, on which the trail section is clearly shown in black ink. The hiking trails, in turn, are marked with large blue metal discs with an image of a hiker with a walking stick.

Two Likeable Lakes

The park contains two sizable lakes, Quaker Lake in the southwestern section, and Red House Lake in the central section. The Quaker Lake area has 230 cabins and a dozen or so campsites, open from early April through mid-December.

Both lakes are ideal for swimming, boating, canoeing, and fishing, and are stocked with rainbow and brown trout. On the south side of Red House Lake are biking trails, picnic areas, and playfields.

Cutting through the park's midsection are two main highways. One of these, identified as ASP 1, enters the park's northern section from Salamanca, located across the Allegheny River; it runs south to Red House Lake, then southwest to the park's southern end, to intersect another highway, ASP 3, running east and west.

These hardtop, two-lane highways also attract hikers. Trees and other growth have been cut back from the highways to provide wide, grass-covered shoulders to serve as hiking routes paralleling the roadways.

A View from Allegany State Park

Take Your Time

It takes time to fully appreciate the park's varied features and scenic beauty. Plan to visit for at least two days, or even better, a three-day weekend, including campouts at either the Quaker Lake or the Red House Lake area.

If you prefer a cabin, you can rent one. But from June to Labor Day, cabin reservations must be made for a minimum of seven nights; reservations for the rest of the year must be made for a minimum of two nights. The per-night fee ranges from $7 to $9.50.

The Quaker Lake area includes a network of foot-trails connected by roads and highways. By combining these, you can form hiking loops to cover three days of walking. Use the Diehl Tent and Trailer section in the Quaker Cabin Area as your base c& from here, it is possible to hike three loops, each starting and ending at your campsite.

From your base camp, you easily can find the trailheads of four hiking trails: the Bear Caves-Mount Seneca Trail, the Three Sisters Trail, the Mount Tuscarora Trail, and the North Country (Finger Lakes) Trail. When these trails are combined with the area's road system, several hiking loops suggest themselves; hence, the recommended hikes can be divided into three days of walking.

The recommended routes are the Mount Tuscarora-ASP 3 loop (7.5 miles); the Mount Seneca-Stony Creek-ASP 3 loop (7.8 miles); and the Thunder Rocks loop (5.5 miles).

Getting There

Allegany State Park can be reached from the east or west via the Southern Tier Expressway (NY 17) and from the north (Buffalo-Niagara Falls area) via US 219, to where it intersects the Southern Tier Expressway at Exit 21. From the park's southeastern entrance, it is 5 miles to Bradford, Pennsylvania, which can be reached via US 219 from Du Bois, near the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

For those using the Southern Tier Expressway and coming from the east or north, follow the Expressway around the northern portion of the state park to Exit 18 on the park's west side; those coming from the west on the expressway, use the same exit.

Leave the expressway at Exit 18 and turn onto NY 280; drive South on NY 280 for 4 miles, where you enter park land. Here the park uses its own route designation, ASP 3; an additional 1.5 miles on ASP 3/NY 280 brings you past the southwestern part of Quaker Lake (on your left) to the park's entrance booth.

Continue driving southeast on ASP 3 for 3.5 miles to the rental office building on the left, across the highway from the Quaker Inn and store. After checking in to obtain your campsite (or cabin), drive few hundred yards past the intersection with ASP 1 for 0.5 mile to Diehl Trail (access roads to camping areas are designated"trail" rather than "road"); turn north on Diehl Trail, and 0.2 mile brings you to your site.

Many trails radiate from this spot.

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