Rockland Boulders & High Tor State Park (NY)
Posted by John Autin on June 20, 2011
For Father's Day, I took my family out to the new minor-league ballpark in Pomona (Rockland County), NY, home to the expansion Rockland Boulders of the independent CanAm League. Despite missing the chance to see Ozzie Smith's son, Dustin (who was released the day before), it was a wonderful day.
If you're in the NYC area and looking for the minor-league experience -- especially if you're in the northern 'burbs and don't relish the schlep out to Coney or Staten Island -- I highly recommend a trip to Provident Bank Park. I could describe it for you, but it's easier for you to just check out this video provided by B-R blogger Steve Lombardi. It's about 15 minutes' drive past the Tappan Zee Bridge, and just off the Palisades Parkway and Route 45, in a lovely mountainous setting.
Here's the team's ballpark map; note that it shows the address as Pomona, NY, while in news articles the location is also described as Ramapo or New City. Exact locations can be a little vague in Rockland County, and I get the feeling that's just the way those folks like it. Just know that if you're using MapQuest, your destination should be "pomona rd & firemens memorial dr, pomona, ny."
As an added benefit (a huge one in my eyes), the ballpark is close to Harriman State Park and even closer to High Tor State Park, just 10 minutes and 2 turns away (really!), which is where we spent the afternoon before yesterday's game.
High Tor is a smallish state park whose most popular attraction is probably the outdoor swimming pool that features two diving boards. (We're always excited to find diving boards, which have become almost extinct in public pools in this area.) But the main attraction for us is that the park is traversed by the Long Path, the marvelous hiking trail through the Palisades, Catskills, etc. (The NY/NJ Trail Conference has somewhat better information than the NYS Parks site.)
A hike of 20-30 minutes from the parking lot gets you to Little Tor, which (despite its diminutive designation) provides gorgeous views of the Hudson Valley in almost all directions. Once you get to the park, the trail begins at the corner of the parking lot diagonally opposite the pool entrance. After 5-10 minutes on a rocky path beside a stream, that path ends at the Long Path. Turn right, and walk about 10 minutes until you see a boulder (graffiti-covered, alas) with a trail leading to the left. Follow that trail to the end -- it's not far -- and you're at Little Tor.
A word of advice: Do not use MapQuest directions to High Tor State Park; use GoogleMaps instead. Trust me ... or have fun driving around Haverstraw for half an hour. (But I guess all you whippersnappers will be using your GPS anyway.)
Here is someone's hike video (not mine).
All in all, it made a great Father's Day ... even if my "beloved" Boulders (whom I first heard about last week) did fall to the hated New Jersey Jackals, 10-4! (Grrrr ... those Jackals, they're just so smug!)
(Oh, and P.S. -- This post is guilty of East Coast bias. Deal with it.)
June 20th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
John - FYI, earlier today I posted some video on this at WW:
http://waswatching.com/2011/06/20/dave-lapoints-new-digs/
June 20th, 2011 at 5:36 pm
@1, Steve -- That's great! I edited the post to include a link to your video.
I hadn't heard about the "duplicate dugout" concept; when I saw it, I thought it must be unique, and apparently it is. It's a cool idea ... even though a dugout doesn't really have a good view of the game.
June 20th, 2011 at 5:43 pm
Thanks for the article, John. I'm glad you had a good time, and the ballpark sounds great. I am fortunate to live near a couple of minor league ballparks (affiliated and independent) and really enjoy the experience. I don't have kids of my own, but I feel one of the big benefits of going to minor league games is that they have no tolerance for jerks that want to get drunk and cause trouble.
June 20th, 2011 at 5:43 pm
The RF porch is also a great idea -- 2 rows of seating almost at ground level, and room behind for kids to play, with a couple of picnic tables. And there were several HRs hit into that space yesterday, which thrilled the kids.
June 20th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
@ JA,
Bear Mountain (Harriman's entrance) can be accessed from Port Authority NYC via bus in about an hour. It is a great last second trip out of the city; bring a tent and mosquito repellent and spend the night.
There also is a ferry, which is three hours, but I have never ridden it, so I can't say anything about it except the brochure says "full cash bar" - which passes three hours nicely.
June 20th, 2011 at 11:11 pm
@OT 'P.S':
No worries, we've got Yosemite Nat'l Park out here 😉
June 20th, 2011 at 11:18 pm
JA, is it called the CanAm league based solely on the presence of a Quebec City franchise? If so, I love the league name.
AmCan doesn't roll off the tongue quite as easily. 🙂
Perhaps unknown to US readership is the fact that Quebec, both Montreal and Quebec City have a long baseball minor league history.
Vive Les Capitales!!
Now if only a ML team could see the financial value of an Ottawa, Ontario AAA franchise.
June 20th, 2011 at 11:53 pm
JA, If you ever need a new job, you ought to try being a travel agent or tour guide. Great description of what sounds like a great ballpark in a nice area.
June 21st, 2011 at 1:50 am
I am a lifelong Rocklander and baseball fan, and I am pleased to report that there is a lot of excitement around here over the Boulders. I took my family to the home opener last Thursday and we all had a terrific time.
Rockland County is a very interesting place - relatively tiny in size, but a population of over 300,000 people; referred to as "upstate" by everyone in New York City, but only a half-hour drive from Yankee Stadium. We're a county-wide community - on local sports radio, callers from Rockland are the only ones who identify ourselves as hailing from the county instead of a particular town or city (FYI, the ballpark is in the village of Pomona and town of Ramapo; New City, where I'm from, is adjacent).
I've been to quite a few minor league parks, and I believe I'm being fairly objective when I call Provident Bank Park the nicest one I've seen for fans, families, and the game of baseball itself. Or maybe not as objective as I think. Go Boulders!
June 21st, 2011 at 3:38 am
@Neil(#7) Wasn't there an Ottawa AA franchise, that was ridiculously successful, as an affiliate of Montreal's, for quite awhile? Did they fold when the Expos moved?
I think that I recall reading, a couple people saying, that one or two of those teams, in the early 90's could have played in the majors, and at least held their own. (Whether hype or not[!], the point is still made.)
June 21st, 2011 at 3:42 am
I've been a fan of minor league ball for years and have been to most of the Iowa parks in the Midwest League plus the St. Paul Saints and just this year Fargo in the independent Northern League. The players are accessible and generally friendly, the seating is great, the prices are reasonable and even the fans seem friendlier.
June 21st, 2011 at 7:06 am
Ottawa was a AAA town from 93 to 07. Philly bought the team and moved them to the Lehigh Valley after the 07 season. Ottawa has a 10,000 seat ballpark and no team...definitely could work as a jays affiliate if the jays wanted to ever change up...
June 21st, 2011 at 8:27 am
@12
Dickie, you beat me to it. Thanks.
Yes, the Ottawa Lynx. Just a stone's throw up the river from Montreal.
It sure would save travel costs for Toronto compared to Las Vegas!?! Perhaps not the same revenue stream though.
June 21st, 2011 at 8:44 am
@9
ToddWE, I know, or should I say knew, absolutely nothing about Rockland County until your post. Thank you.
I think it is indeed interesting when a team is named after a region/state/county rather than a specific town or city.
How did the Florida Marlins get named after a state but Tampa Bay after a city? Minnesota, rather than the city? And the Los Angeles Angels of ......... whatever? 🙂
The Ohio Reds or the Missouri Cardinals just doesn't seem quite right.
June 21st, 2011 at 10:08 am
@6, Cheese -- Always glad to be reminded of Yosemite, where I had my 2nd-favorite camping trip ever; right on a lake, no one else around, we were even graced with a meteor shower. Magical.
Takes a back seat to Kauai, but there's no shame in that. 🙂
June 21st, 2011 at 11:07 am
I went to the home opener and it was an incredible game at an incredible ballpark. They have a great family food deal, $18 for 4 hot dogs, 4 small sodas and a french fry. Highly recommend a visit to this ball park. Over 350+ photos from the home opener can be viewed on my website:
http://www.brianduddy.com/g/rb061611
June 21st, 2011 at 12:18 pm
@10, Nash Bruce -- I think someone has misled you about the caliber of that Ottawa team. The team that existed from 1993-2007 (changing affiliation in 2003) never even won their division. They had a losing record more often than not, several times way under .500.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?city=Ottawa&state=ON&country=CA
June 21st, 2011 at 2:44 pm
@14, Neil L. -- I've often wondered about that myself. Some thoughts:
I grew up in the California Angels era; they had been the Los Angeles Angels previously, and the Anaheim Angels subsequently. They're so close to a humongous city, but a city that already has a team; Anaheim is somewhat well-known nationally, but probably more for Disneyland than anything else. Of all these teams, the Angels are probably best suited for a county name, after a county that has its own identity - the Orange County Angels, anyone?
Until recently, the football Giants and Jets, basketball Nets, and hockey Devils played in the same sports complex. None of them were named for the city of East Rutherford. Surprised? Of course not. They all were New York City teams, less than ten miles from the city, but in a different state. The football teams (both of which used to play in the city itself) kept their NYC affiliation. The Devils have moved to Newark, and could justify a city affiliation, but are sticking with the state. The Nets will soon be in Brooklyn, which is only part of a city, but actually was its own independent city when the Dodgers first called it home.
Are the Twins named after the state to keep their "twin cities" affiliation alive? Maybe the Minneapolis Twins would alienate fans from St. Paul.
It seems like the Marlins have been trying to get their own stadium built from day one. Maybe ownership was never convinced the team would remain in Miami. This is supported by the fact that the team will be renamed the Miami Marlins once they do move into their new park next year.
Then again, state affiliation seems to just be trendy recently -- the Colorado Rockies and Avalanche, Arizona Diamondbacks and Cardinals, Florida Panthers, Tennessee Titans. And how about the Carolina Panthers and Hurricanes? Why claim just one entire state when you can have two!
The New England Patriots? Brilliant. Claim an entire region of the country for yourself.
The Golden State Warriors? Weird. I think they moved around a lot after leaving San Francisco.
The Texas Rangers don't play in Dallas, but they're close enough that I think an affiliation with the city could have been justified. Of course, in that case, the "Rangers" moniker would not have existed.
June 21st, 2011 at 5:45 pm
John, thanks for bringing back some memories. Growing up in a mexican border city I've been fortunate enough to visit some of the major and minor leagues stadiums closer to home, as well as every single one of the Mexican Pacific League (a.k.a. Winter League). Those minor league stadiums are the ones that I enjoyed the most because of the family-oriented atmospheres and of course affordability. Nothing like spending a summer night watching baseball, or perhaps a not-so-chill winter afternoon of our favorite pastime, or as we call it south of the border: "El rey de los deportes" (The King of sports).
June 21st, 2011 at 8:05 pm
Wow, I didn't know Pomona had a ballpark. I spent a few years living in Pomona (on Dogwood Lane right off Route 45) and Monsey finishing up high school and such. Right on that loop like a lasso on the map off Rt 45/Park Pl a little northeast of where the park is now.
Anyway, as for why it's sometimes listed as Ramapo, for those who don't know, every part of New York state is a city, town, or reservation (and perhaps government land that has no such designation). So while many people live in *villages* (incorporated or unincorporated) and usuallysay they live in the village, they also in fact live in a town, and in the case of Pomona, the Town of Ramapo.
I have to get up there some time. Thanks JA.
June 21st, 2011 at 10:55 pm
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June 22nd, 2011 at 12:10 am
@19, Luis Gomez -- Thanks for sharing, and for giving me a new phrase: El rey de los deportes. (Could that also be used for a guy who was a multi-sport star, like Bo Jackson?)
I've sometimes wondered how North American baseball history would have played out if Jorge Pasquel had been able to make more inroads with his attempts to sign MLB stars to the Mexican Baseball League after WWII. It would have been fascinating.
June 22nd, 2011 at 12:23 am
If MLB expanded into Mexico, where would the best place be? I'm sadly ignorant of Mexico. It feels like Mexico City is too far into the country to put a team. Maybe it doesn't matter, now that we have these newfangled air-planes, but it seems like it does. Is there a logical location closer to the US border?
June 22nd, 2011 at 2:34 am
@ Johnny Twisto
Near Mexico City would be good but Latin America is a non-starter right now. Maybe it has abated some recently but AFAIK kidnapping are way too much of an issue. Players' families wouldn't want to live there.
Notwithstanding that a Mexican team would still be paying their players in U.S. dollars. You'd really need a massive amount of interest in the team to be able to charge enough and sell enough to offset that disadvantage.
June 22nd, 2011 at 7:22 pm
@22 Maybe we could write about it in one of those "what if" blogs. I think it would be interesting.
@23. There was talk in the early 90's (at least here in Mexico) about Monterrey becoming a MLB city for an expansion team. Monterrey is the third largest city in Mexico, located in the state of Nuevo Leon, just south of Texas. Monterrey has a rich history in baseball, not only in our country but it has some ties with U. S. baseball. For instance, they won the first Little League World Series for a foreign team, with Angel Macias pitching the only Perfect Game in LLWS Championship Game history. This city also held the first regular season game in 1996 between the Padres and Mets, and became the first non-US/Canada to host an Opening day Series.
@24. I think, as part of MLBPA agreement, they would be paid un US currency, just like the Blue Jays players are, as well as the Expos did.
June 23rd, 2011 at 6:04 am
@25
I don't know where you get your information from but the Jays pay their players in USD. MLBPA would never agree to let players get paid in moose dollars. NHL players don't even get paid in moose dollars and they have more Canadian teams, more Canadian players, and a much weaker player's union. Ditto NBA.
June 23rd, 2011 at 12:20 pm
@26, Fireworks -- Is there a misunderstanding? It seems that you are saying the same thing as Luis @25 -- all MLB players are paid in U.S. dollars. (Or am I missing something?)
June 23rd, 2011 at 3:32 pm
You are correct JA. His typo confused me. I will blame it that and on the hour of my post. And my poor reading comprehension.
Nevertheless, I had the opportunity to refer to Canadian money as "moose dollars". It may be my best post ever.
June 23rd, 2011 at 3:33 pm
it on that*
Okay, so no excuse that time.
June 23rd, 2011 at 3:57 pm
@28, Fireworks --
A Møøse once bit my sister ...
No, realli!