Park Passport Belongs To: Accessible Ice Skating

Home , Chestnut Ridge Park, Como Lake Park, Ellicott Creek Park, Emery Park, Niagara River

park ERIE COUNTY PARK SYSTEM PASSPORT Visit us online: www.erie.gov 2021 ACTIVITY ICON LEGEND This Park Passport belongs to: Accessible Ice Skating

Baseball/Softball Moderate Hiking Name:______Mountain Biking Basketball Address:______Nature Viewing Bicycling No Alcohol Phone:______Bike Path Access No Swimming Email:______Bird Watching Off-Leash Area Boat Docks Picnic Area Boating Playground

Camping Scenic Location

Canoe/Kayak Launch Sledding

Casual Hiking Snowboarding Snowmobiling Criket Snowshoeing Cross-Country Skiing Soccer Disk Golf Strenuous Hiking Downhill Skiing Swimming Fishing Tennis Fitness Playground Tobogganing Printed in-house by the Erie County DISS Print Shop. Golf Walking Horseback Riding PARK INDEX TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents______1 Akron Falls______11 Park Intro______2 Bennett Beach______12 County Executive/Parks Commissioner Message______3 Park Rangers______4 Black Rock Canal______13 Junior Ranger Program______6 Boston Forest______14 Erie County Parks Map______8 Bureau of Forestry______15 Park Rules______10 Chestnut Ridge______16 Akron Falls______11 Bennett Beach______12 Como Lake Park______17 Black Rock Canal______13 Eighteen Mile Creek______18 Boston Forest______14 Ellicott Creek______19 Bureau of Forestry______15 Elma Meadows Park______20 Chestnut Ridge______16 Como Lake Park______17 Emery Park______21 Eighteen Mile Creek______18 Franklin Gulf______22 Ellicott Creek______19 Isle View______23 Elma Meadows Park______20 Emery Park______21 Red Jacket Riverfront Natural Habitiat Park______24 Franklin Gulf______22 Scoby Dam Park______25 Isle View______23 Seneca Bluffs Natural Habitat Park______26 Red Jacket Riverfront Natural Habitiat Park______24 Sergeant Mark A. Rademacher Memorial Park/ Scoby Dam Park______25 Hunters Creek______27 Seneca Bluffs Natural Habitat Park______26 Sergeant Mark A. Rademacher Memorial Park/ Sprague Brook Park______28 Hunters Creek______27 Thomas F. Higgins Natural Habitat Park (Bailey Peninsula) _____29 Sprague Brook______28 Times Beach Nature Preserve______30 Thomas F. Higgins Natural Habitat Park (Bailey Peninsula)_____ 29 Tow Path______31 Times Beach Nature Preserve______30 Tow Path______31 Wendt Park______32 Wendt Park______32 Describe______33-34 Notes______35 Park Index______36 36 1 Notes... ______

The Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry ______provides residents opportunities to enjoy recreationaL pursuits in natural settings on a year round basis and protects regionally ______important areas of scenic, environmental and cultural heritage significance. ______The Erie County Park System is considered one of the finest in the entire state. All parks are open from 7:00 AM to dusk (Winter) and ______7:00 AM to 9:00 PM (Summer). Shelter reservations can be made between May 1st and October 15th. ______MISSION STATEMENT: The Erie County Park System has traditionally been positioned to ______fill a niche in the regional parks and recreation framework. Specifi- cally, the County Park System has emphasized the provision of rec- ______reation activities and facilities in natural environment areas as an alternative to localized park settings. ______The role of the County Park System shall be: ______• To provide residents opportunities to enjoy recreational pursuits in natural settings on a year round basis; ______• To protect regionally important areas of scenic, environmental and cultural heritage significance; ______• To contribute to the economic vitality of the County, and; • To promote public awareness of the resources available within ______the park system. ______

2 35 Describe cool things A MESSAGE FROM THE ERIE COUNTY EXECUTIVE I welcome Erie County residents and visi- found/learned/observed... tors to our region to visit any of our county parks and take advantage of the many ______different recreational activities available to you. I encourage everyone to get outside ______and have some fun in the great outdoors. There’s something for everyone to do all ______year round. Please take advantage of this Mark C. Poloncarz user-friendly Parks Passport to guide you County Executive to familiar parks and also to locate and ______explore parks you have never visited or perhaps didn’t even know existed. I look forward to seeing lots of people and families safely ______enjoying our parks. ______A MESSAGE FROM THE PARKS COMMISSIONER Welcome to the Erie County Park System. ______This passport serves as a guide to our parks and the wide variety of recreational ______activities our parks have to offer throughout the year. From picnicking to camping, skiing to hiking, bicycling to horseback rid- ______ing, snowmobiling to fishing and more, Erie County Parks have something for everyone. ______Our parks are open to everyone and there Troy P. Schinzel Parks Commissioner are no admission fees, making them truly ______affordable for a day of family fun. I welcome you to explore our 10,000 acres and enjoy all that we have to offer. ______

34 3 PARK RANGERS Describe plant or animal species... ______2019 Junior Park Rangers ALL ABOUT THE RANGER PROGRAM ______The Erie County Park Rangers are dedicated to enhancing the visitor experience in the County Park System. This is accomplished ______by maintaining their focus on the three pillars of the Park Ranger Program. ______1.) EDUCATION: The Rangers strive to build connections between the community, the County Parks, and the natural world ______throughout the region. [a] The Park Rangers develop educational programs and lead ______guided walks to teach the public about the communities found in the Parks system and how to be safe while visiting ______the parks. ______

4 33 [b] The Park Rangers are a resource for visitors to ask WENDT PARK questions about what they see in the parks. 7676 Old Lakeshore Road, Derby, NY 14047 [c] The Park Rangers promote the Erie County Parks system throughout the region 2.) VISITOR SAFETY AND PARK SECURITY: The Park Rangers strive to ensure that all park visitors are safe and following the park rules, AND that all park property and ecosystems are protected. [a] The Park Rangers enforce the park rules [b] They are trained in basic first aid and CPR to assist park visitors [c] They make recommendations to improve visitor safety throughout the parks 3.) ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE BASE: All the Park Rangers have a background in the ecological sciences with extensive Park Features experience in the field. They are committed to improving and Birds; songbirds, waterfowl, and shorebirds are some protecting the natural communities found within the County of the migratory birds that can be watched and photo- Park System. graphed. Water life includes pan fish, catfish, walleyes, northern pike, bass and perch are always there to chal- [a] The Park Rangers provide insight on how to best lenge all anglers in Lake Erie. This passive park is a great manage park lands, especially when it comes to invasive picnic location, but rocky/shale beach conditions and a species. non-lifeguarded beach make swimming prohibited. [b] They assist with mapping the parks and delineating park Wendt Park is a 170-acre lake front estate and was used boundaries. as the Henry W. Wendt, Jr. family’s summer residence, [c] They are available as an ecological resource for other which they later renamed the “The Ridgewood.” departments to tap into. Clue: Ride your bike here in the spring and hear a free 2020 RANGER ACCOMPLISHMENTS chorus. EDUCATION: Lat/Long: 42.674283749 / -79.0538841763 • 11,342 Total Educational Contacts. – Conducted 39 programs with 489 participants. Park Code:______– Attended 3 events to promote the parks where 417 individuals were reached. 32 5 VISITOR SAFETY & PARK SECURITY - Assisted 1,196 park visitors in the form of providing directions, TOW PATH PARK assisting lost hikers, and checking on the welfare of visitors Foot of Hertel Avenue, Buffalo NY - Engaged 7,538 individuals violating park rules - Mapped, reworked, and started remarking the trail system at Franklin Gulf ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGEBASE - Marked the boundary of 3 new park properties and maintained boundary markers on two properties - Assisted Dr. Robert Denton from the University of Minnesota Morris with data collection on a project looking for the presence of an interesting sub population of Jeffersonian Salamanders, which is entirely female and genetically different than the rest of the population, on many of our forestry properties. - Started using iNaturalist to record species the Rangers observe in the parks and created projects for each property in the Park System to record public observations. This data will be used to History create species lists for our properties. Tow Path Park was once in the corridor of the historic Erie Canal. It is appropriately named for the historic JUNIOR PARK RANGER towpath, which once passed through this area following beside the Erie Canal. Tow Path is a small, five PROGRAM acre “pocket park” that is primarily passive in nature. Become a Junior Park Ranger It has excellent views of the Niagara River and is popular The Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry is for fishing, picnicking and as a resting area along the happy to announce the return of the self-guided Junior Park Riverwalk. Ranger Program. This self-guided program is a way to introduce Clue: Walk the same trail as the donkeys of yore. children, and those young at heart, to the natural world and the wonderful recreational opportunities available year round at our Lat/Long: 42.9396902118 / -78.9092733885 various county parks.

Park Code:______

6 31 Below are the requirements to become a TIMES BEACH NATURE 2021 Junior Park Ranger: PRESERVE 1.) Obtain an Erie County Park System Passport. Additional North end of Fuhrmann Boulevard, next to the copies of these free guides to our Erie County Parks can be Coast Guard Station picked up at designated pick-up points within select parks or ask one of our Park Rangers for a passport. For more information, visit: www.erie.gov/familyfun 2.) Visit all five (5) Parks: Como Lake, Elma Meadows, Emery, Seneca Bluffs Natural Habitat, and Sprague Brook. Use the coordinates listed on that parks page to locate and record the code in your passport book. 3.) Visit any five (5) additional parks and use the coordinates listed for that parks page to locate and record the code in your passport book. 4.) Describe one plant or animal species you identified in one of the parks and include the species’ scientific name. 5.) Describe one cool thing you did, observed, or learned in one of the Erie County parks that you visited. 6.) Optional: Find and talk to a Park Ranger in one of the parks. History 7.) Complete the program by visiting www.erie.gov/familyfun It is believed that Times Beach Nature Preserve was and filling out the Junior park Ranger application, or visit our once a shantytown and in the 1940s became a dumping Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry office located ground for dredged materials from the Buffalo River and in Room 1260 within the Rath Building at 95 Franklin Street, Harbor, and was abandoned by the mid 1970s. These Buffalo, NY 14202. days, Times Beach is owned by the City of Buffalo and is maintained by both the City and the County of Erie. Once completed passports have been approved and it has been determined that all requirements have been met, Junior Park Ranger certificates will be mailed to each Junior Park Ranger, with Clue: Sneek up on some birds and be a park spy. a ceremony honoring all 2021 Junior Park Rangers to be held at Lat/Long: 42.8722369931 / -78.8837439332 Chestnut Ridge sometime in the fall. For more information on how to become a Junior Park Ranger, call 716-858-8355 or visit www.erie.gov/familyfun Park Code:______

30 7 ERIE COUNTY PARKS THOMAS F. HIGGINS

1. Akron Falls* NATURAL HABITAT PARK 2. Bennett Beach South of the intersection at Elk & Seneca Streets and north of the intersection at McKinley Parkway 3. Black Rock Canal and South Park Avenue in Buffalo. 4. Boston Forest 5. Bureau of Forestry 6. Chestnut Ridge* 7. Como Lake Park* 8. Eighteen Mile Creek 9. Ellicott Creek Park* 10. Elma Meadows 11. Emery Park* 12. Franklin Gulf Park 13. Isle View 14. Red Jacket Riverfront Natural Habitat Park* 15. Scoby Dam 16. Seneca Bluffs Natural Habitat Park* 17. Sergeant Mark A. Rademacher Memorial Park/Hunters Creek Park Features 18. Sprague Brook The area around the park site is former industrial lands and still shows signs of this former use. Urban neighbor- 19 . Thomas F. Higgins Natural Habitat Park (Bailey Peninsula)* hoods that once were vibrant with factory workers living 20. Times Beach Nature Preserve* in the shadows of their employers, are now much less 21. Tow Path vibrant and many are in need of revitalization. 22. Wendt Park Clue: Meeting of the waters. Lat/Long: 42.86121836 / -78.826384541 * Denotes Erie County Heritage Park * Denotes Erie County Pocket Habitat Park Park Code:______

8 29 SPRAGUE BROOK 9674 Foote Road, Glenwood, NY 14069 9 13 1

21 7

20 14

19 16 11

17 10 8 6

22 Park Features

Sprague Brook is a park of hidden treasures. An out- 2 4 standing place to see wildflowers, migratory birds, and deer. This park offers the outdoor enthusiast a multitude 12 18 of diverse and exciting adventures. 5 6

15 Clue: Go ahead and take short route but we’re sure you’ll enjoy the view a lot more if you take the long way back. Lat/Long: 42.5915300866 / -78.6465651135

Park Code:______

28 9 RANGERS TOP 10 RULES SERGEANT MARK A. 1.) All dogs must be licensed and kept on a leash AT ALL TIMES. RADEMACHER MEMORIAL 2.) You must clean up after your dogs. PARK/HUNTERS CREEK 3.) Alcohol is allowed ONLY by permit (included in shelter and Access to the park is from either Hunters Creek most building rentals) and is NOT allowed at Bennett and Road on the east or Centerline Road at Vermont Wendt Beach. Kegs and liquor are prohibited. Hill Road to the south, South Wales. 4.) Park Hours: [a] Summer (Memorial Day - Labor Day) is 7:00 am to 9:00 pm [b] Winter (Labor Day - Memorial Day) are 7:00 am to Dusk (approximately 30 minutes after sunset) [c] Please note that some activities (sledding/skiing/ snowmobiling/etc) may have special hours. Please check the website for more info: www.erie.gov/parks 5.) Littering and dumping of waste (household garbage, yard waste, or other waste) is prohibited in the parks. 6.) Do not cut, destroy, or damage any trees or other plant life or disturb any wildlife in the parks. This includes no hunting and trapping of wildlife. History 7.) Mountain bikes are only allowed on designated trails at Sgt. Mark Rademacher was a 20 year old Town of Wales Sprague Brook and Hunters Creek Park. resident who was killed in the Grenada Invasion in 8.) The speed limit on all park roadways is 15 mph. November of 1983. Foundations of old homesteads and barns can still be seen. In the park’s interior, a large log 9.) Swimming is only allowed at Bennet Beach Park when the cabin was constructed as a hunting lodge for the Kellogg lifeguards are present and conditions allow. Family. Only the fieldstone chimney and foundation 10.) You cannot climb waterfalls or ravines and you cannot jump remain. off of waterfalls Clue: A perfectly positioned pointed peninsula. NOTE: Erie County Parks are designated “Smoke Free Parks. Please no smoking or vaping. Lat/Long: 42.7373574534 / -78.5475164321 For a full list of park rules please visit: www.erie.gov/parks Park Code:______

10 27 SENECA BLUFFS NATURAL AKRON FALLS HABITAT PARK 44 Parkview Road, Akron, NY 14001 Near the Seneca Street Bridge between Elk Street and Avon Place, Buffalo

Park Features When you take a ride to Akron Falls, you’ll take notice Park Features of the lush moss, ferns and dense forest that surround The site provides habitat for a wide variety of flora the cliffs. Here you can breathe the mystical breeze as and fauna and is part of a larger wildlife corridor along the water cascades over the falls, especially in the fall the river. Seneca Bluffs will become part of the future season. Down stream along the lake you can spot many Buffalo River Greenway Trail. Seneca Bluffs also is less types of birds that have made the park their home. than two miles from Tifft Nature Preserve and is located In addition, you can visit the Rock Garden with its deco- within the Great Lakes migratory bird flyway. rative shrubbery. Clue: Islands aren’t just for oceans. Clue: An island in the sun is always a good place to picnic. Lat/Long: 42.8659192122 / -78.8179185326 Lat/Long: 43.0168929246 / -78.496078433