1 Hudson Valley State Park Among Best In U.S.: Report

New York is blessed with some really incredible state parks, and it always nice to have them recognized. In fact, New York is getting another state park. On Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a brand-new 407-acre state park that will open in Brooklyn in the summer of 2019. Just FYI, it will be named in honor of Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American congresswoman and first African-American to run for president.

But that's the future, and the editors of HomeToGo took a look at state parks around the country and came up with 18 of the best state parks that you can visit now — "State Park Index 2018: Ranking America's 18 Most Extraordinary Parks."

Out of the 18 parks they shined a spotlight on, three of them are in New York, with one right here in the Hudson Valley.

Not surprisingly, Niagara Falls State Park made the list, coming in at No. 4. Letchworth State Park, which is located in Livingston and Wyoming counties in western New York, was No. 8, and Bear Mountain State Park in Rockland County was No. 9.

Only Florida was represented by more state parks — with four —than New York, which was tied with Utah at three.

HomeToGo called Niagara Falls an iconic American landmark which is dramatic and awe inspiring. It's the oldest state park in the U.S. and attracts millions of visitors a year.

Letchworth is known as the "Grand Canyon of the East," HomeToGo said, and contains a gorge, three waterfalls and cliffs as high as 600 feet.

Located along the western bank of the Hudson River, Bear Mountain has lakes, fields and picnic groves and is known for it unique Merry-Go-Round with 42 hand-carved seats in the form of animals found in the park. There are numerous trails, including a 6-mile portion of the Appalachian Trail, if hiking is your thing.

HomeToGo first identified the top 100 most popular state parks across the country for 2018, and then researched five categories — average visitor rating, affordability, number of activities, diversity of bird species and availability of accommodations — to come up with the top 18.

To see all 18 state parks that made the list, go here.

Photo credit: NYS.gov.