New Yorks best-kept secrets outside the Big Apple, from lesser-known museums to the worlds longest elevated pedestrian bridge.

Thats when I pull out my (not-so) secret list of hidden gems in the Empire State.

Sams Point Preserve and the Ellenville Ice Caves

YSDED-Photo by Darren McGee.

Aerial shot of Valcour Island

Credit:Bruce Carlin

Neighboring the Catskills,Sams Pointis the highest summit in the Shawangunk Mountains casually referred to as the Gunks.

Buffalos West Side Bazaar

Sharon Cantillon/Visit Buffalo Niagara

Patronizing vendors at BuffalosWest Side Bazaarcan actually change lives.

For many, it was the first step to a new life.

Sam’s Point Preserve, Cragsmoor, NY, Ulster County, Hudson Valley Region

YSDED-Photo by Darren McGee.

Most of these refugees many of whom had escaped Nazi concentration camps were housed at Fort Ontario in Oswego.

The exhibits here provide poignant insight on their journey and experiences escaping persecution in Europe.

(Shops are closed on Sundays and some on Wednesdays.)

Kyu Kyu Mar Tin Hla, owner of Millions Tin Japanese sushi prepares a crunchy dragon roll at West Side Bazaar’s grand opening at its new location at 1432 Niagara Street in Buffalo, Tuesday, October 31, 2023. Photo by Sharon Cantillon.

Sharon Cantillon/Visit Buffalo Niagara

There are also special events with music, shopping, horse-drawn carriages, and a Santa appearance.

The estate is open May through October.

From the museum, located in the former 1863 U.S.

Exhibit in the Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum

Courtesy of Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum

GENESEE COUNTRY VILLAGE AND MUSEUM,

John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images

Person in Buggy is unrecognizable. An Amish buggy on a lonely country road near the Amish Community in Upstate New York,

Buddy Mays/Getty Images

Ganondagan State Historic Site, inside a recreation of a longhouse.

zrfphoto/Getty Images

Stalls at Rochester Public Market

Visit Rochester

Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion , Finger Lakes Region

NYSDED-Photo by Darren McGee

A family watches a video at the Niagara Underground Railraod Museum

Courtesy of Niagara Falls USA

At 1.3 miles, Walkway over the Hudson (formerly the Highland-Poughkeepsie railroad bridge) in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA is the world’s longest pedestrian bridge.

AlizadaStudios/Getty Images