Stony Brook State Park — Attraction in Town of Dansville

Stony Brook is a MUST do... but done correctly!

It is a state park that caters to both the casual sightseer and the hiker, guaranteeing everyone leaves with breathtaking photos, and lots of mosquito bites. You can stay here however long you want given there are 3 trails, a baseball field, Volleyball and Tennis courts, and a Swimming Pool.

Entry for day use is $9... Make the most of it!

Arrive between 9-10 AM. This is the sweet spot. You'll beat the afternoon crowds, snag a prime parking spot, and enjoy the tranquil beauty of the gorge in the soft morning light.

If you're here to see the iconic sights without a strenuous workout take the Gorge Trail: Enter through the northern entrance. Park at the last Car Park on the road. Head towards the Bathhouse and round down towards the Swimming area. Walk upstream, along the side of the swimming area. The water will be flowing in the opposite direction you're walking. This puts you directly on the stunning Gorge Trail (0.75 miles long). The trail hugs the water, offering continuous views of the incredible cliffs and a series of smaller falls. Keep an eye out for Northern Falls and the picture-perfect Pittsburgh Falls. When you reach the large wooden staircase that stretches up the cliff, you've completed the best part of the trail. This is your sign to turn around and do the walk in reverse. You'll get a fresh perspective on the views you just passed, and it's an easy, beautiful walk back to your car.

If you're looking for a moderate challenge extension to the sightseer tour with less views: Conquer the wooden staircase! At the top, turn right. This connects you to the West Rim Trail. Enjoy the moderate-difficulty hike as it winds through the forest. Follow the trail back to the Car Park.

Whatever you do, make sure you go upstream when doing the gorge walk and do that as early as possible before the crowds arrive and whilst you have it all to yourself!

The Gorge Trail takes around 45 mins and round trip with minimal...

A great state park...swimming, hiking, camping, cabin rentals. The east rim n west rim trails are short-ish, but A LOT of stairs, more like all stairs, n they are in ok-to-need- attention conditions. Please only hike these if you are in a-ok physical health. One other trail is only open on weekends, n is one-way-only this year (2020). All the locker room-n-showers are very clean. The cabins are tiny but ok. Please be aware that they are just solid-walled tents, with one double size cot, two single size cots. No electricity, no heater, no fridge, no nothin' unless you bring it with you. But water is right across the single lane road from the cabins, n tent campers can get water at the locker rooms too. Also, they shut off the water drinking fountains all over the park, because of covid19 concerns, so bring your own for hiking, swimming, n playgrounds. Water is still available in the restrooms n cabin areas. The locker rooms have an outdoor sink to do your dishes. Also, a strange deal on the cabin rentals...you must pay to rent them for 5 days, whether you actually stay in it or not. Tent n tow-behind camper trailers can rent the spot for however many days are available. Weekends are VERY crowded, n tent areas could use a better system of marking off the area. A very large tow-behind trailer parked 10 inches from my tent while we were out hiking...ugh. But every spot has a fire pit with a "grill top" n a standard park-size table with benches that is comfortable with 6 or 8 people. Park is very quiet after 10pm except for the people who talk too loud. Lots of security patrols circulated, day n night. No one bothered anything we left outside, but we also didn't leave much outside worth bothering with. Everyone was friendly but 6 feet apart. (It's 2020 rules)....

Won’t stay here again. The rangers are useless. Most state parks don’t want you to bring wood from outside states so we always try to buy it onsite to reduce the invasive bugs that travel on the wood. Every camp site I stay at offers wood for sale. Except this one. The bugs were horrendous and thick, no amount of spray and devices and candles would keep them away. We wanted a fire. We had marshmallows ready to roast. Went to the ranger station to ask where to buy wood, and the little ranger man who thinks he’s a state police got all agro with me. After he told me they don’t have any there he told Me to just drive down the road and find a place that sells some. (An hour from sunset) I asked which direction to go can he point me somewhere as it’s almost dark. He got rude and just threw his hands up in the air pointed to the exit and said “would you just go that way” I said I would love to exit to get some firewood but can you tell me where to get some. He said I was holding up the line and needed to move. He wouldn’t answer me, and I didn’t want to take off almost dark already to somewhere without knowing where or how long I would be driving. No body around anywhere had a fire. The bugs were bad and it was cool at night- we want to camp with a campfire- the fire rings just sit empty. The rangers want to be state police and have the attitudes of one not a park ranger. Then they kept riding by our camp and staring us down. I sure didn’t travel that far into the mountains to be stocked by anyone. Kinda creepy and was not a fun night in the dark with no fire. Showers are gross I wouldn’t step foot in...