A year-long celebration of the centennial anniversary of the founding of New York’s statewide park and historic site system will take place in 2024, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday.

Across the state throughout 2024, New York will commemorate the state park centennial with hundreds of community celebrations, performances and special events led by the state park and historic site staff, the State Council of Parks and Park and Historic Site Friends Groups.

“New York State led the nation in creating a State park system for our citizens 100 years ago,” Gov. Hochul said. “As we celebrate through next year, New York will continue to invest in our park system to support the State’s outdoor recreation economy, expand access to underserved communities, address the impacts of climate change, and position New York State as a top recreation destination.”  

There will be a new Centennial Challenge to encourage visitors to enjoy parks and historic sites, special discounts on park admission fees and new opportunities to volunteer and promote park stewardship.

A traveling exhibit on the history of New York State Parks will go on display at parks and historic sites throughout the state. State parks will collect and share stories and photographs from the public to celebrate the memories made during the last century, as well as a new line of Centennial-themed New York State Parks merchandise from the parks store.

New Yorkers can visit parks.ny.gov/100 to learn more about the Centennial.