Allegany State Park
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The Red House Area is the northern half of Allegany State Park. It is usually considered to be the most developed area of the park. The Red House area's attractions include: Stone Tower, the Summit Fire Tower, Red House Lake, Bridal Falls, and the Art Roscoe Ski Area. Not to mention several hiking trails and camp sites. The Red House area is the location of the Administration Building for the park.
The Quaker area, unlike the Red House area is located in the southern section of the park. Its attractions include: Quaker Lake, the Mount Tuskarora Fire Tower, hiking trails, Science lake, Bear Caves, Thunder Rocks, the Quaker Amphitheater, and of course several campsites. The Cain Hollow campground is located on the Quaker side of the park.
Allegany State Park is nicknamed the "Wilderness Playground of Western New York."[[Citing sources citation needed]]
Park History
The park started as a 7,000 acre tract of land was purchased through the Holland Land Company in the Quaker Run Valley. The Purchase took place in 1921, and was the site of an old logging camp. Tents were primarily used during the time between the park's creation until the completion of the first permanent cabins in 1925. The park was developed extensively between 1933 and 1942 when the Civilian Conservation Corps took on the project of building roads, bridges, camping areas, trails, and picnic areas. Through the years, the park was developed further with the addition of two man-made lakes, winterized cabins, hiking trails, picnic areas, and bike paths.Quaker Dance Hall
Among some of the park's rich history is the Old Quaker Dance Hall. The dance hall was located in the Quaker Area of the park off ASP 3. Unfortunately the hall was torn town in 2002 due to its poor condition. Many dances occurred here through the Depression era into the mid 1900's. Bands would play live music at the hall while scores of people danced on the large dance floor.New Ireland
Also a part of the history is the settlement of New Ireland (Carrollton, New York) which was formed in the early 1900's near Limestone, New York. The village since was incorporated into Limestone, New York, and no longer exists. Ruins of the old village are still visible and are accessible off of the Limestone Run Road.Park Fire Towers
Due to the danger of forest fires, and the damage caused by them in New York State Parks, three fire lookout towers were constructed. The first; Summit Fire Tower; was completed in 1926. It stands 66 feet tall. The other fire towers were the Mt. Tuscarora Fire Tower located in the Quaker Area, and the Mt. Irvine Fire Tower located in the Rice Brook (Limestone) area. The Mt. Tuscarora Fire Tower still stands today, near Quaker Lake. The Mt. Irvine Fire Tower, however, was disassembled by the park and moved near the Bradford, PA entrance. When all the fire towers were abandoned in favor of aerial surveillance in 1971, the Mt. Irvine tower was the only one taken down by park personnel in the early 1970's. It was saved however, when reassembled by a BOCES class in Ellicottville, New York. [The Allegany State Park Historical Society] has formed a committee which has undertaken the task of restoring and preserving the park's fire towers. Information on the restoration project is available on their website.Gas Lease
Contained within the park off France Brook Road is a large storage pool for Natural Gas. Formerly a large gas well, the Limestone Storage Pool is operated by [National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation.] National Fuel leases rights to maintain and operate the 20+ wells it uses to store and regulate the natural gas it stores in the massive underground sandstone deposit. The storage pool is connected to the "K" line which is a 16 foot gas pipeline that runs from Buffalo, New York to Eldred, Pennsylvania. The pool is regulated by equipment located in a compression station situated on the access road near the Bova Ski Area and Camp Allegany. The gas stored in this pool is utilized by the park (which it receives for free as part of the agreement), and by local industry in the area requiring high pressure, high volume gas supply. The rest of the gas is used on the K line for distribution in New York and Pennsylvania.Park Roads
The park uses a system of 3 main roads linking the Red House area and the Quaker Run area, and serving as major thoroughfares in the Red House and Quaker Run Areas. They are ASP Route 1; which runs North to South, ASP Route 2; which runs North to South as well, and ASP Route 3; which runs West to East. ASP 1 runs between the park's entrance from exit 21 of Interstate 86 (formerly New York State Route 17, aka the Southern Tier Expressway) in Salamanca, to its intersection with ASP 3 in the Quaker Run Area near the Quaker Rental Office. ASP 2 runs from exit 19 of I-86 in the town of Red House, New York, to its intersection with ASP 3 at the Bradford, Pennsylvania entrance. ASP 3 runs from the termination of ASP 2 near the Bradford entrance, to the park's Quaker Run entrance in Coldspring, New York; from New York State Route 280 which is also connected to I-86 via exit 18.During the winter months, due to its winding nature, ASP 1 is shut down and used only as a snowmobile trail. Because of this closure, ASP 2 is the sole automobile road between Red House and Quaker Run during this period. ASP 3 also remains open during the winter months.
The park also has many minor access roads contained within it. These usually are dirt roads that go unmaintained during winter months, but otherwise vary from good condition to rough condition. These include Bay State Road, France Brook Road, Wolf Run Road, Limestone Run Road (used during the summer as the entrance from Limestone, NY), Coon Run Road, Holt Run Road, Ridge Run Road (access road to Thunder Rocks), Bova Ski Hill access road, and Stone Tower Access Road. The roads within the cabin trails mentioned below also are dirt roads, however they are maintained during the winter to keep access to the cabins opened. One exception to this is Ryan trail in the Red House Area. The cabin trail's road is too steep to allow vehicular traffic during the winter, consequently the trail remains closed for the winter months.
Administration Building
Built in the Tudor Style during the depression era, this building has been extensivly modernized, but still keeps it's cozy rustic charm. Otherwise known as the "Ad Building," it houses the Red House Rental Offices, the NYS Park Police (a division of the New York State Police) Station, the park museum, the Red House Gift Shop, the Red House Restaurant (which is open intermittently) and the Allegany Regional offices for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYSOPRHP).
The Ad Building also has a sitting room with a large bay window overlooking Red House Lake. This room is used for functions and meetings, and is equipped with two wood-burning fireplaces. The gift shop is operated by J-Con Parks, Inc. The rental office, gift shop, museum, and Park Police Station are located on the main level of the building. The restaurant, Allegany Regional Offices of NYSOPRHP, and park offices are located on the upper level of the building. The basement includes offices and storage.
Hiking Trails
Allegany State Park offers 18 hiking trails of various lengths and difficulties available for use year round. Six of the trails are part of the Art Roscoe Ski Touring Area. The trails within this system are groomed for cross-country skiing during the winter months, and are unavailable for hiking. The Ridgerun trail, which is part of the system, features a leanto. The Art Roscoe trails are located near Summit in the Red House Area. In addition to these trails, The Allegheny Highlands Snowmobile and Horse Trail begins in the park off ASP 2. Another unique bragging right the park has is that the famous North Country Trail passes through it. The North Country Trail is a 4000+ mile trail that spans through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and terminates in North Dakota. Allegany State Park's 18 mile section of the trail includes 2 leantos, one in the Quaker Area, and the other in the Red House area. The Black Snake Mountain trail is also unique due to its direct contact with the Pennsylvania state line. One of the attractions on this trail is a concrete marker shows the exact line where New York and Pennsylvania meet. It is short enough that one could sit on the marker, and be in two states at once. Many other attractions are viewable on or from the trails listed below. In the Quaker Area, the Tornado Trail tours the damage area caused by an F-1 Tornado on August 28, 1990. Though much of the area has regrown, you can still see the path that was cut by the tornado; which was 1 of 4 to occur that day in Western New York. Here is a list of the hiking trails and their lengths:Listing of Hiking Trails
- Mt. Tuscarora - Fire Tower (5.0 miles)
- Bear Caves - Mt. Seneca (4.0 miles)
- Black Snake Mountain (3.0 miles)
- Three Sisters (2.5 miles)
- Bear Springs (0.5 miles)
- Beehunter (6.5 miles)
- Osgood (2.5 miles)
- Red Jacket (2.0 miles)
- North Country (ASP section of the trail) (18.0 miles)
- Conservation Trail (4.0 miles)
- Patterson (3.5 miles)
- Ridgerun (5.0 miles)
- Leonard Run Loop (5.0 miles)
- Christian Hollow Loop (4.0 miles)
- Sweetwater (2.7 miles)
- Flagg (3.0 miles)
- Eastwood Meadows (2.5 miles)
- Snowsnake Run (4.9 miles)
Program Sites
In addition to the hiking trails, the park has set up 71 program sites which are used to direct park visitors to specific sites where the park naturalist staff conducts walks and other programs. The park publishes a Recreation Activities Bulletin which informs park visitors of the programs taking place in the published time period. The sites are numbered, with numbers corresponding to an attached map. When a program is conducted, park patrons are directed to meet at one of these specific places at the specified time. Examples of activities and their program site include a tour of a Beaver colony- Site 28, bike & hike to Bridal Falls- Site 60, tour of the Bear Caves- Site 42, tour of Thunder Rocks- Site 35, night owl walk- Site 32, etc.Cabin Trails
Cabin Trails are clusters of cabins that have the dirt access roads mentioned above running to them. Each trail usually has centrally located pit toilets and/or bathrooms with flush toilets while shower facilities are more widely separated. In the Red House Area, the Beehunter trail has a dedicated shower house facility within the trail. In the Quaker Run Area, a similar facility is located near the Buffalo trail for example. In total, the park rents 375 cabins on the trails listed below, 150 of them are winterized. The trails are:Red House Cabin Trails
