Wilson-Tuscarora State Park

Wilson-Tuscarora State Park is a 485-acre (1.96 km2) state park in Niagara County, New York.[1] The park is located on the west side of the Village of Wilson along the south shore of Lake Ontario. Lake Road (New York State Route 18) passes through the park.

Wilson-Tuscarora State Park
Wilson-Tuscarora State Park, July 2006
Location of Wilson-Tuscarora State Park within New York State
TypeState park
LocationWilson, New York
Coordinates43°18′00″N 78°51′40″W
Area485 acres (1.96 km2)[1]
Created1965
Operated byNew York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Visitors201,059 (in 2016)[2]
OpenAll year

History

The park was formed in 1965 on what was previously a sheep farm. Although part of the park may have been a sheep farm multiple families and homes were uprooted by eminent domain used by the state. There was a vision to interconnect a park system along the Great Lakes by a parkway but none existed at the time. Parks had to created. The driving culture of the past never materialized so the parkway was never completed. Push back from area towns who didn’t wish to be cut off from their lakefront was a major issue for the state. The area had previously been a beautiful cottage and home residential area. A golf course existed and some businesses.

Free access was standard for the park until minor improvements were made. Now a charge to enter has reduced use to the boat launch or reserved parties. Mainly ignored by the locals who used the park as a social hub for many years it has become another state waste of natural resources. Visitation numbers are inaccurate due to families that live on Sunset Island are required to enter the park to get to their homes and are tabulated into visits. Use of the boat launch is also entered although none use the Park itself but head out to the lake. The true use of the actual park land will remain unknown due to this.

Facilities

The park is open year-round for day use and offers a beach, picnic tables and pavilions, a playground, fishing (pan fish and game fish), hiking, a nature trail, seasonal wildfowl and small game hunting, snowshoeing and cross-county skiing, and a food concession. A marina launch from the park is located south of Sunset Island. There is also an 18-hole disc golf course at the park.

See also

References
  1. "Section O: Environmental Conservation and Recreation, Table O-9". 2014 New York State Statistical Yearbook (PDF). The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. 2014. p. 674. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  2. "State Park Annual Attendance Figures by Facility: Beginning 2003". Data.ny.gov. Retrieved April 6, 2016.


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