It’s a beautiful day. The sun is shining (I know it’s been raining all the time but bear with me, I’m trying to create a mental picture). Birds are chirping as if they’re having choir practice, and the wind brings in just enough of a breeze to make you think, “ah, that’s nice” every time it hits you. Where is this angelic place of which I speak? Well, dear reader, you know I’ve never been one to hold secrets from you. The peaceful place I was referring to was one of the amazing state parks in Buffalo Niagara! And since spring is here (no, really it’s here, no matter what the weather report says), you couldn’t ask for a better time to return or discover one of the many awe-inspiring state parks in Buffalo Niagara.

Why are state parks important? Some might say because of the trails a lot of them have, or they’re just really great places to have picnics and long conversations as the sun sets. Although both of those are valid, the importance of state parks doesn’t simply fall under challenging trails for your daily cardio (remember only 150 minutes of cardio a week, don’t overdo it) and a sweet spot for the romantic at heart. No, a state park’s chief duty is to preserve the land and all the beauty it holds.

Take for instance, Letchworth State Park with its clear water path and vegetation including big trees that have been there for who knows how long, and oh, that waterfall! It’s not the scale of Niagara Falls (few are), but no waterfall is man-made, so when you get a chance to see one, you better take a moment to appreciate it because you truly are seeing Mother Nature’s handiwork, and boy, is she one hell of a craftswoman.

When you’re dealing with state parks in Buffalo Niagara, to put it plainly, you’re dealing with a protected area. You won’t find Doritos bags in the water (or at least I hope not, or else someone’s not doing their job). You won’t find drunks howling at the moon throwing beer bottles. A state park essentially means all such nonsense that doesn’t directly relate to the upkeep or betterment of the park is out of here with no discussion. The government primarily funds state parks with donations and entry fees covering the rest, and if there’s one thing we can all count on, it’s that the government doesn’t mess around.

So in that respect, there’s probably enough yearly paperwork to cover an entire office space, but they’re in good hands.

To preserve as much of the land as possible, even wildlife hunting in the area is only allowed during a particular time of hunting season, and even then, you can only hunt turkeys with a bow, crossbow, shotgun, muzzleloader, and handgun. Hunting with rifles is not allowed. They do this as a means for those visiting the park to get a sense of how it was like to live there hundreds of years ago when places like Letchworth State Park were prime real estate for anyone living off the land (granted back then they didn’t have handguns to shoot turkeys).

Another key component when discussing the overall importance of state parks is that they are tangible monuments to the past that we can experience at our leisure. None of us can hop in a time machine, go back a few hundred years, and hang out with some hunter-gatherers. It doesn’t work like that, but we can go to where they lived. By preserving a place, you are also preserving its history, and not in the sense of cracking open a textbook or doing some google searches. No in this regard, I’m speaking of strictly tangible history.

The type of history you feel instead of read.

Imagine, for instance, that you go to the waterfall portion of Letchworth State Park or our mighty Niagara Falls State Park. You feel the droplets of the waterfall’s mist lightly hit your skin. You inhale the strangely sweet aroma it gives off and realize at that moment that this was a fishing area many, many years ago. You then might take a look at the surrounding vegetation and notice some trees you can’t even fathom how old they are, so you decide in your mind that they’ve been there since the beginning of time.

What was just described are the momentary glimpses into the past we can get if we take a moment to absorb some of what parks like this have to offer. What we get isn’t quite a time machine, but it’s the closest we’ve got at the moment. What we do have are places positively brimming over with history that you can’t help but get a residual blast by simply taking a few steps or admiring one of Mother Nature’s ever-enduring creations.

After a little while in such a place, you realize that the past is still here. It’s just that when you enter, you are there with it as well.

Imagine with me for a moment (this is the last mental image for the piece I promise. I know your brain must be fried from conjuring up all these 4K images I’ve created for you) that there were no state parks in Buffalo Niagara, what would be the loss? Sure, there would be an influx of potato chip bags in the water supply. Yes, more animals would be on the verge of extinction than there are now. Not to mention a lot of indescribable beauty would be shamelessly put to ruin, but most importantly, we’ll be missing a lot of great images into the past. Places where people long extinct used to roam. How will we feel their connection if the land they left isn’t respected and cared for?

Because if nothing else, state parks link us to the past and although no one can know everything about the park, they choose to visit just by entering it and sitting by a stream. You can still feel the history all around you. Nudging you to explore and, maybe just maybe, discover something new for yourself.

Don’t you know that by merely entering one of the many state parks in Buffalo Niagara, you are well on your way to this type of discovery?