Chestnut Ridge Park is a park in

Orchard Park, New York Orchard Park is an incorporated Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Erie County, New York, United States. It is an outer ring suburb southeast of Buffalo, New York, Buffalo. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census, the po ...

, originally named for the chestnut trees on its hills. It is currently the largest park operated by the Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry, and is open year-round. The Chestnut Ridge Park property was acquired by Erie County in 1926, and it was one of the first parks established by the county. The park's facilities and landscapes were improved substantially by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

throughout the 1930s.

Facilities and Attractions

The park has facilities and space for

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

, disc golf,

snowmobiling A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...

sledding Sledding, sledging or sleighing is a winter sport typically carried out in a prone or seated position on a vehicle generically known as a sled (North American), a sledge (British), or a sleigh. It is the basis of three Olympic sports: luge, Skel ...

and other outdoor activities. The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra has held summer concerts at the base of the sledding hill, which provides an

amphitheater An amphitheatre ( U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meaning "place for vie ...

-like setting. On a clear day, the sledding hill offers views of Buffalo and

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

Toboggan A toboggan is a simple sled used in snowy winter recreation. It is also a traditional form of cargo transport used by the Innu, Cree and Ojibwe of North America, sometimes part of a dog train. It is used on snow to carry one or more people (o ...

chutes also operate on the sled hill during the winter. The Eternal Flame Falls, a small waterfall containing a natural "

eternal flame An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which ca ...

," is located within the park. The falls are situated within what was once known as the Shale Creek Preserve, a wilderness area formerly owned by the Buffalo Museum of Science. A tower facility used for firefighter training is located on the premises. The main lodge located at the top of the sledding hill contains park information, picnic tables, vending machines, and a café. Multiple cafés have opened and closed in the lodge, one being ''The Grateful Grind'', which opened late December of 2018, serving breakfast foods until it closed in August of 2023. The current café, ''The Lodge'', was opened in 2023 and currently serves concession food. The main lodge also has a

tower viewer A tower viewer is a telescope or pair of binoculars permanently mounted on a stalk. The device magnifies objects seen through its lenses, allowing users to see farther and more clearly than they could with the naked eye or with less powerful vie ...

looking north, giving views of Highmark Stadium, the city of Buffalo, and on a clear day,

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

and the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

. Although said to be one of the largest county parks in the United States, at least one larger county park is located nearby. The Mendon Ponds Park, a county park in

Monroe County, New York Monroe County is a county in the U.S. state of New York, located along Lake Ontario's southern shore. As of 2022, the population was 752,035, according to Census Bureau estimates. Its county seat and largest city is Rochester. The county is ...

, is situated approximately away.

Gallery

Image:Chestnut Ridge hill.JPG, Chestnut Ridge Park sledding hill Image:Chestnut Ridge chutes.JPG,

chutes at Chestnut Ridge Park sledding hill Eternal flame falls 7252.jpg, Eternal Flame Falls in Chestnut Ridge Park

References

External links

Map of Chestnut Ridge Park

Chestnut Ridge Conservancy
* Parks in Erie County, New York Orchard Park, New York {{ErieCountyNY-geo-stub