Stony Brook State Park

Visited June 30, 2021

10820 Route 36 South, Dansville, NY 14437 (Livingston County)

I used "Stony Brook State Park" as my Google Maps point and that brought me to the Route 36 “Lower Park Entrance” as it is called on the state park map or the northern entrance if you are looking at a map with compass markings. After entering, we passed tennis parking and then arrived at the main parking area, a paved parking area that will hold 50+ vehicles.

78 degrees Fahrenheit, muggy with a slight breeze at 10:00 AM, 84 degrees Fahrenheit at 12:42 PM

Toilets available a short walk from the main parking lot. Toilets also available where the Gorge Trail connects to the East Rim Trail. This area is near the Upper Park Entrance which has a smaller paved lot.

Leashed dogs are welcome on the trails. Please bring baggies and carry out your trash and any dog poo.

Not too many mosquitos today but I did put on bug spray when we entered the woods.

Some poison ivy off the trail in the wooded section but if you stay on the trail, you should be fine.

No cost to access this park or the trails today.

Warning: Cell phone signal is spotty on these trails. This park is a good place to “unplug.”

I enjoyed this park with my husband and my friends Chris, Dave, and Patrick. To walk the 3.3 round trip on the Gorge Trail which connected to the East Rim Trail. We went clockwise and I would recommend that for the enjoyment of seeing each waterfall appear as you walk the Gorge Trail. I saw abandoned beverage containers and two baby diapers on the Gorge Trail. During the entire hike, we passed three or four families and some employees working on the stairs but the trails are wide enough that there is room to pass.

The trail surface was paved, slate, or natural and had some wet slippery spots. Wear your most “grippy” shoes for safety on this hike. This trail was single-file in a few places, mostly wide enough for two people, and sometimes there was room for four abreast.

At the main parking lot, there is a playground which had happy visitors today. There is a “pool” in the ravine but today it was closed. The stone bridges and small “falls” are very picturesque and then the larger falls were in the area where there was the most relief from the heat this hot, muggy dayThe lower falls, the first falls we encountered after going over two pretty stone bridges, was probably the best place to take your waterfall pics for the day. I was glad to have my walking poles with me today. There were many ups and downs on the trails. Some sections had stone steps, some were wooden steps with railings, and some were dirt with concrete slabs at the front edge of each “step.” One of my friends was counting and said we had climbed over 300 steps. (I don’t remember the actual number.) The wooden steps are well-spaced. I have to say that they were the most enjoyable steps I have ever climbed and there WERE a lot of them. This park was as beautiful if not MORE beautiful than Letchworth with significantly fewer people on a June Wednesday. I have wanted to visit for years and I am so glad I finally made it. Despite the heat and humidity, it was gorgeous and peaceful.

I admit that my footing and the gorgeous rock face and waterfalls distracted me from the flora and fauna today, but there were still things to see. The chipmunks lived near the tent camping area. The squirrels lived near the picnic tables below the main parking area. We heard a strident robin’s song along the Gorge Trail. There are many varieties of trees including maple, cherry, and hemlock. I saw mosses, goldenrod, ferns, Virginia creeper, and poison ivy.

This hike is part of the Summer 2021 WNY Hiking Challenge. For more information:

https://outsidechronicles.com/challenges

For more information and a map of the site:

https://parks.ny.gov/parks/stonybrook/details.aspx