New York - Watkins Glen State Park

WOW!

Really. Wow!

This is not really one waterfall, but a series of them – maybe a dozen? It’s tough to tell how many, since there are rapids just about the entire way, WOW, so worth the views!

This place is beyond beautiful, and so hidden!! I spent three nights camping here. The first night, I traveled south along Seneca Lake stopping at a few wineries and another State Park. Beautiful landscapes were everywhere, but it’s a sort of rolling scene – not big mountains or anything. That night, I got my site set up and it was too late for a hike. The next afternoon, after a day-long blacksmithing class (more on that here), I went for a “quick” hike on the “Gorge Trail” – WOW! The next day I completed the entire Gorge Trail.

The trail is aptly named! It is literally cut into the gorge, following the slope of the river. This means that there are more than 800 stairs along the way. Do yourself a favor – start at the top and catch a shuttle once you get to the bottom. The shuttle is $5 but wasn’t running the day I was there. I heard people on the trail say they were going to Uber back. OR – just hike it both ways – just be ready for a lot of stairs – most of which are wet. Take your time and enjoy the views!

This hike literally took my breath away – and not JUST because of the stairs! It is such a beautiful gorge, and the waterfalls are one after another stepping down to the lake. At one point, I thought I was at the end of the trail, but NO – if the gorge gets to close, I guess the answer is to create a spiral staircase INSIDE the rock, that takes you out BEHIND the next falls. SO COOL!! There were at least three waterfalls that the trail went under. There were also a few bridges over the gorge and just all-around beautiful scenery every direction you looked!

For a solo hiker, there were also a ton of people looking to get their photo taken, which is key so that they reciprocate and take yours as well! One guy caught me trying to use the 10 second feature on my camera to get a shot of myself, and he just went ahead and took the shot for me – it was appreciated!

One more plus for this location – the trails here are also part of the North Country National Scenic Trail, so if you are like me and are trying to visit as many National Park Service properties as you come across, this is one of those as well!