McDONOUGH – Memorial Day Weekend was a busy one at Bowman Lake State Park.

According to Park Manager Joe Morisette, the McDonough park’s 189 campsites were fully booked for the holiday weekend, which marks the start of their peak summer season. The park was also visited by plenty of local residents, taking advantage of the Bowman’s 35-acre lake for fishing, boating and swimming.

“Our numbers were up over last year,” Morisette reported, commenting that the park even felt busier than the same weekend in 2009.

Bowman Lake isn’t the only state park to report higher attendance over Memorial Day. According to a statement issued yesterday by Parks Commissioner Carol Ash, more than 1.7 million people visited New York state parks over the three-day holiday weekend. That is an increase of 245,296 visitors, or 17 percent, from 2009. Campsite and cabin occupancy rates were also up for the weekend, from 88 percent to 91 percent.