When I hear Watkins Glen the first thing that pops into my mind is NASCAR and racing! But it turns out the town of Watkins Glen, NY also has an amazing State Park that is well worth a visit. Actually I think it is way more interesting than auto racing, although my son might disagree. We visited Watkins Glen State Park recently and spent the day exploring the trails and waterfalls.
The Finger Lakes region of New York is well known for all the many waterfalls that can be found. When glaciers covered this area during the last ice age they carved out deep lakes, but many tributary streams were not eroded, so they were left hanging over the lakes, creating waterfalls.
Now Watkins Glen State Park doesn’t have one huge waterfall, what it has are many small waterfalls all strung together in a row. On a two mile trail the glen’s stream descends 400 feet, which generates 19 waterfalls along the way.
And a trail goes right along the glen, so you can walk the entire two miles and enjoy all the waterfalls. Some of them are big, and some are small, but all together they give you a great appreciation of the power of water to reshape the earth. The cliffs tower up to 200 feet above the water, and are very impressive!
Towards the bottom of the trail you go through the Cascade Cavern, where you descend through a stone tunnel and come out to a fast flowing waterfall that you have to go under.
The trail is relatively easy to hike, with lots of stairs. At least during the summer there is a shuttle bus that goes between the top and bottom, so you don’t even have to go both ways unless you want to.
This park is well worth a visit, since it is fun to walk alongside the waterfalls and see how the land changes in only 2 miles. It is nice to actually walk right next to the stream, since at many places you can’t get this close to the water. All in all it is a great place to spend the day exploring!
It is a very nice place to visit. We went there years ago and we enjoyed the scenery and the walking.
Very nice photos.
Beautiful! I’ve never been to New York, but maybe someday, I’ll get to visit this park – it sounds like a place I’d love to visit. Thanks for sharing.
That is really beautiful! 🙂
How beautiful! Thanx for sharing pics with us.
I know nothing about Nascar, but those pictures are beautiful!
That looks so beautiful and serene!
Looks like a beautiful place to visit!
These pictures are so beautiful I will have to visit the next time I am upstate.