Cherry Plain State Park
Under $25A small summer park on Black River Pond in the Rensselaer Plateau, with a beach picnic area, rowboat and kayak rentals, trails and 30 campsites.

Photo: Nick Hepler from Troy, New York, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
Swim at Long Pond's sandy beach, paddle six ponds and hike or ski about 25 miles of forest trails on a plateau near Troy.
254 Grafton Lakes State Park Way, Grafton, NY 12082 · Grafton, NY
Grafton Lakes covers nearly 2,500 acres of forest and six ponds on a plateau between the Hudson and Taconic valleys, northeast of Albany. Long Pond has a large sandy beach with lifeguarded swimming in summer, and you can rent boats or launch your own canoe; Long, Second and Shaver ponds hold trout. About 25 miles of trails serve hikers, bikers and riders, and in winter they are used for snowshoeing, skiing and snowmobiling. The Shaver Pond Nature Center runs programs. Parking is $8 per vehicle in summer and $6 on spring and fall weekends.
The closest stops to Grafton Lakes State Park, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.
A small summer park on Black River Pond in the Rensselaer Plateau, with a beach picnic area, rowboat and kayak rentals, trails and 30 campsites.
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