Chestnut Ridge Park

     If you went down Zimmerman Road to the old 219 and crossed 219, Zimmerman became Herman Hill Road which then went up a big hill. Once you got to the top, you were no longer in the Town of Boston but in Orchard Park. A couple of miles later, Chestnut Ridge came into view – a recreational park for all! The hills and gullies and trees of Chestnut Ridge made it a popular place in both summer and winter.

toboggan chutes at Chestnut Ridge

     In summer, the Valley Circle Lane neighborhood sometimes had a big picnic at Chestnut Ridge. A cabana would be reserved near a baseball field. The adults would all bring food – salads, chips, kool aid, and the men would grill. Hot dogs. A baseball game for all ages was played; horseshoes too. I liked hanging around with the women and babies, hoping to hear the grown-ups gossip.

     It is not a park where one pitched tents or parked RVs or spent the night – it is only for daytime picnics and sports. 

     Hiking too – there is a place at Chestnut Ridge called the Hundred Steps – stone steps had been put into the side of a gully which led down to a creek. I never walked the Hundred Steps – maybe someday, if they are still there. And there was a fenced off part of the park where deer lived and were not hunted.

     Sometimes the Girl Scout Troop I was in went to Chestnut Ridge for a cook-out, and probably a project for a merit badge or two. I mostly remember the hot dogs.

     The public restrooms at Chestnut Ridge were especially memorable – brick buildings similar to any park restroom you may have frequented anywhere else. But I don't think these were cleaned very often, and they smelled. My Mom probably only made this comment once in her life, but I adopted it as a family saying and utter it often when some odor is especially bad, “It smells like the bathrooms at Chestnut Ridge Park in here!” And we all know that smell!

     Winter at Chestnut Ridge is when all the grills and picnic sites disappear beneath a blanket of white snow. Then the hill becomes the prominent feature of the Park. The hill is very high and steep.

     At the top looking down, on the far left is the bunny hill for beginning skiers. Moving a little to the right are two giant chutes for toboggans and stairs up the back side of the chutes, up, up, up – at the top was an area to set and load up the toboggan, and then there was the slide to the ground and the continued slope down the hill. Awesome! To the right of the toboggan chutes is the part of the hill where folks can ride down on sleds or saucers.

     My parents tried to spend at least one afternoon at Chestnut Ridge every winter, or rather, Dad would take us kids. We had a sled which could hold two, and we had a saucer. I knew how to steer the sled, but I would still manage to run into people at the bottom of the hill. It was cold and fun.

     We only gazed in wonder at the tobogganers, and it never occurred to us to venture over to the bunny hill to try skiing or to go inside the warm lodge for some hot chocolate.

     College, however, brought more experiences. LR's uncle ran the concession stand inside the mysterious lodge at the top of the hill in Chestnut Ridge Park. We even worked there a few Friday nights and Saturdays in the winter. It was neat inside, and I saw lots of people I had known from my younger years. Laura got me to try on the skis for the bunny hill one time, but I opted out of actually, you know, going down the hill on them.

     And then there were the toboggan chutes - ! I think alcohol was involved.

     The spring of our freshman year, the kids from the class had a picnic at Chestnut Ridge Park – a replay of the baseball, horseshoes, smiling faces, and the hot dogs.

view from Chestnut Ridge Mike and Eric in 2009

68 20150309 Chestnut Ridge Park