South of Seneca Lake is the most famous state park in the Finger Lakes, Watkins Glens, which USA Today's Readers' Choice Poll voted the 3rd best state park in the US. This is quite impressive since according to the National Association of State Park Directors, there are more than 2,200 parks and more than 6,200 additional recreation and educational areas administered by the various states in the nation. Another NY state park, Letchworth Park, which we had visited a few years ago garnered the top honor.
Watkins Glens is about 150miles from Kayuta, which would have been quite a drive for us were we not already on Cayuga Lake doing the Wine Tour and seeing the sites (Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, Taughannock Falls).
After spending the night in Ithaca, we drove west towards the village of Watkins Glen and paid $8 to park close to the main entrance to the park.
On the left of the main entrance water can be seen coming from a hole in the cliff below the stone bridge. This comes from a short tunnel that millers had chiseled through the rocks in the 1800's. Water from Glen Creek then poured into a "flume" trough that led to a flour and feed mill that was located at what is now the parking lot.
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| Main Entrance |
We went through the main entrance that had been carved through the limestone rock towering 200 feet high. This lead to a set of stairs through the tunnel ending in the Sentry Bridge, the stone bridge we had seen from below.
Glen Creek can be seen twisting at the bottom of the gorge 21 feet below. Twelve thousand years ago, the gorge did not exist but was solid rock beneath the creek flowing down the west side of glacier carved Seneca Lake. Thousands of floods through the years eroded layers of limestone and shale creating the gorge, the creek flowing down in a series of 19 waterfalls that descend like the steps of a staircase.
We followed the 1.5 mile long Gorge Trail through stone steps and staircase that hug
the cliffs,through tunnels and bridges following the course of the
creek, which would ascend nearly 500 feet with more than 800 steps. Before the late 1930's these stonework walkway and stairs did not exist. When the park first opened to the public in 1863, visitors used ladders, wooden stairs and walkways. Once it became a state park in 1906, tunnels, concrete bridges and staircases with iron railings were built, many of which, however did not survive the great flood of July 7, 1935. |
| Minehaha Falls |
Minehaha Falls plunges 21 feet down to a heart-shaped pool.
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| Cavern Cascade |
The trail runs behind Cavern Cascade as it pours over a sandstone ledge spraying visitors with its cooling mist before dropping 50 feet below.
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| Central Cascade |
At a viewing area about midway along Glen Cathedral, a long area flanked by 200ft cliffs on both sides, this pool of water is aptly termed baptismal font with the 60ft tall Central Cascade up ahead. Visitors on the Gorge Trail go through the tunnel seen on the upper right then up more stairs ending at Folly Bridge above Central Cascade.
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| Rainbow Falls |
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| Rainbow Falls and Triple Cascade |
Just up ahead, the creek drops 12, 8 and 6 feet in a Triple Cascade as it receives waters from Rainbow Falls.
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| Pluto Falls |
Nine foot high Pluto Falls, its name inspired by the Greek god of the underworld, is in an extremely narrow gorge with overhanging cliffs enveloping it in a perpetual shadow.
We passed the junction between Gorge Trail, Indian Trail and the Finger Lakes Trail at the Mile Point Bridge and continued the next half mile along the wide and level path, the stream being calm at this point.
The New York Central Railroad Bridge, first built in 1877, destroyed by floods in 1935 and only recently rebuilt, can be seen in the distance.
At the end of the path is Jacob's Ladder, a really steep (nearly 200 steps) staircase leading to the upper entrance area where there is a snack bar/souvenir shop, parking lot. The bathrooms were closed but at least the porta potties had water for washing your hands.
From here, one can go back to the main entrance via a shuttle or take Indian Trail which follows the north rim and can connect with the Gorge Trail at different points.
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| View of gorge from Lover's Lane |
After a small snack, we decided to trace our steps back to Gorge Trail to take another look at the gorgeous falls, taking a little side trail to Lover's Lane. |
| Suspension Bridge |
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| View of Gorge Trail and creek fom suspension bridge. |
We then crossed the suspension bridge and walked to the lily pond around which used to stand the Glen Mountain House, a Victorian Inn that opened in 1872 but burned down in 1903.
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| Lily Pad |
From here, one could go to the South Entrance, continue the hike on the South Rim Trail (Finger Lakes Trail) or head for one of the campgrounds in the park. For us, we headed back to Gorge Trail, once more passing behind Cavern Cascade then towards the exit.
The 2 1/2 hours we spent to go slightly over 3 miles on a nearly complete round trip on Gorge Trail plus a little side trip was well worth the time. We did not even notice the effort. The views were indeed awesome and something we would love to see again. Maybe next time, we can identify more of the other 19 falls in the glen. And maybe hike the other trails too.
References:
1) NY Falls. Watkins Glen State Park.
2) Watkins Glen State Park. Waterfalls in The Western Half Of New York State
3) Waterfalls of the Northeastern United States
4) Walk in the Park. Exploring parks in the Finger Lakes of New York and beyond.
5) Watkins Glen State Park.New York State of Opportunity. Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
6) 10Best Readers' Choice Awards. Best State Parks
7) America's State Parks
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