Traveled through the suburbs of New York State over several days. When we often talk about New York, we refer to New York City, but as a state, New York is much larger and diverse than just the city. Since I reside in Massachusetts, I have visited New York City several times, but I haven’t had many opportunities to explore New York State itself. The suburbs of New York State were an uncharted area for me, and had it not been for the friends residing in New York State, I probably wouldn’t have ventured into such a foreign region alone.

Destination: Saratoga Springs

Photo of the Saratoga Springs map

The area I traveled to for several days was Saratoga Springs, located north of Albany, New York. A friend came over to spend a day at my house, and the next day, we set off for our destination, which was a three-hour drive.

Overall, there wasn’t a huge difference compared to other New England areas I frequently visit. But perhaps because it was early October? The scenery was incredibly beautiful.

Video taken when we stopped at a rest area while driving. This was the landscape of New England in early October.

Saratoga Spa State Park

After arriving in Saratoga Springs, we unpacked at our accommodation. It was an Airbnb with neat and nice facilities. Looking back, I realized I didn’t take many photos…

I didn’t take many pictures of the accommodation, but it was neat and beautiful like this.

Three of us traveled together, and coincidentally, there were three rooms, so we each used a room, making it easy to unpack comfortably.

Then we headed to a nearby national park called Saratoga Spa State Park. The trail had gentle inclines and was overall easy to walk. There were a lot of people here and there, and they were holding some sort of event, possibly a wedding, so it wasn’t a secluded trail, but overall it was very beautiful.

The forest path was still full of foliage before the fall colors set in, making it quite peaceful.

It seemed to be a popular spot as there were a lot of people. The parking lot was also huge.

Saratoga Lake

After enjoying the trail, we went grocery shopping and impulsively visited a place called Saratoga Lake nearby. I wasn’t expecting much, but the lakeside view was so beautiful that we spent about 30 minutes looking around. The scenery, even as seen in the video above, was beautiful, but experiencing it with your own eyes was even more stunning. I don’t know if it was because of my lack of skills, but capturing the beauty of the landscape and nature seems better done with the eyes than with a camera.

After enjoying the trail, we returned to our Airbnb and grilled a lot of meat and vegetables that we bought. It was so delicious that we devoured it quickly and unfortunately, didn’t take any pictures. It was that good!

Day Two, Peeble Island State Park

The next day, we packed our things and each headed home. On our way back, we stopped by a place called Peeble Island State Park for about an hour, and unexpectedly, the scenery was very beautiful.

I didn’t manage to take pictures, but even the entrance to the island was unique. It was a narrow bridge, barely wide enough for one car to pass. Since I was driving, I couldn’t take a photo, so I’ll substitute with an image I found online.

The bridge was narrow enough only for one car, but it had an allure.

Once inside the park, it was more beautiful than I had anticipated. As it’s an island surrounded by the river, the sound of water and the natural scenery were stunning. I’ll share a few images and videos.

A beautiful building photo taken while walking around the island vicinity.

Photo of the dam seen below the island trail

The passersby were kind, and most notably, many visitors came with dogs or cats, making it enjoyable to watch.

Place where rapids flowed

There were areas with rapids and places where I saw plants I hadn’t seen before, which made for a delightful visit.

The Charm of Trailing

This trip led me to set a goal of walking around various suburban areas in the United States. Unlike hiking, Trailing in parks is not physically demanding and seems like a worthwhile objective. I plan to do this more often in the future.