Sampson State Park

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Sampson State Park is a 2,070-acre park on the east shore of Seneca Lake in Romulus, New York, just south of Geneva. It sits on the site of the former Sampson Naval Training Station, which later became Sampson Air Force Base. During World War II it trained Navy personnel, and during the Korean War it served as an Air Force basic training site. It is next to the former Seneca Army Depot, a munitions storage site. Most buildings are gone, but there are about 38 miles of former roads and trails in a three-square-mile wooded area. The surviving building that housed the “brig” now holds a museum about the Navy and Air Force teams who trained there.

In 1960, New York State bought the site for park use for $500,000. The park, named after Rear Admiral William T. Sampson who was born nearby, includes a military museum, a campground with 309 sites (245 electric), a sandy beach on Seneca Lake, boat launches, and a marina with over 100 boat slips. The museum is run by volunteer Air Force and Navy veterans and is usually open on weekends.