2011-07 Watkins Glen Gorge

We will soon leave NY.  We had one last place we wanted to visit - the gorge in near-by Watkins Glen State Park.  It has been so hot lately we held off thinking we would get up early one morning, but that never happened.  So we finally went late Saturday afternoon.  As it turned out, we probably could have gone in the middle of the day.  It is very shady down in the gorge and the cold water makes the walk much cooler, especially when you get hit by the spray from some of the waterfalls.

I'll quote from the park's trail guide:

"The park features a spectacular narrow gorge where you can hike alongside Glen Greek past deep pools, water-sculpted rocks and nineteen waterfalls...Water has shaped the natural landscape of the park.  During the past million years, water in the form of giant mounds of ice, or glaciers, covered New York State several times, dramatically transforming the land in its path.  In this region, the most recent glacier moved through shallow river valleys leaving in its place deep, steep-sided troughs.  When the glacier receded north about 10,000 years ago, water filled these new troughs, creating the 11 Finger Lakes which include Seneca Lake.  Since then water in the form of Glen Creek has poured down the glacially-steepened hillside, cutting away its soft sedimentary rock.  This on-going process has formed this park's rugged gorge and spectacular waterfalls.  Glen comes from a old Greek word meaning "small, narrow, secluded valley.""

Here are a few pictures and short videos from our walk:

This is the first waterfall you walk behind:

This video shows the second waterfall you walk behind and the surrounding gorge:

You can see how we got sprayed with the cool water:

Another short video from another part of the trail:

2011-06 Watkins Glen, NY

We traveled up from Ft Chiswell, Virginia to Watkins Glen, NY stopping overnight in Winchester, VA.  The drive up, especially the last 100 miles or so was through some really beautiful countryside in Pennsylvania.  That last section in PA was through rolling hills/mountains.  The terrain in northern PA and southern NY is more "rounded" than the mountains in the southern smoky mountains, but the elevation seems about as high.  We had a few long climbs up some fairly steep grades, but most of the route followed along rivers and through the mountain valleys.

The one word to describe everything was "green".  Our views were primarily of green forests and fields of grass.  With so much rain in the area, everything was very lush.  The farmers grow lots of grass for hay as well as corn.  I imagine the reason is that there is a lot of dairy farming.  We have seen many farms with multiple silos for storing grain with dairy cows in the surrounding fields.  In fact we have seen more dairy farming here than the areas we have visited in Wisconsin and Vermont, two states know for their cheese and dairy production.  The picture above is of a typical barn in the area.  This one is on the hill that sits above Watkins Glen and the campground we used.

 This a view of the farm on the hillside from near the campground, which adjoins a marina.

Below is the view looking from the farm down at Seneca Lake, one of the beautiful NY Finger Lakes.

These photos are of the area south of Watkins Glen.  This valley leads to Corning, NY which is about 20 miles south.

Here is a view from the south shore of Seneca Lake.

Were are a couple of sunset photos taken from the city park that is just across the road from the campground.  We often took a late evening stroll along the lake.

The city put on a very nice fire works display from this park.

We have enjoyed our stay in NY.  However this campground has been a far cry from the peace and quiet we enjoyed back at Solitude Pointe in SC.  This campground sits next to a very busy highway, especially on the weekends.  Plus for the July 4th weekend, there was a festival in the park across the road with a loud band.  We had to leave.  We rode over to Ithaca, NY to spend the afternoon away from the noise getting back shortly before the fireworks.  Fortunately the band did not continue to play afterward.

07-09 Watkins Glenn State Park

From 07-09 Watkins Glen

I have long heard of Watkins Glen, I guess because of watching NASCAR or Indy Car racing at the nearby race track. We discovered that there is a beautiful State Park that gives the area its name. So we went over on Friday July 10th, a drive of about 30 miles through beautiful countryside.

The word “Glen” comes from a Greek word meaning “small, narrow, secluded valley”. That is a good description of the trail we took. It is a 1 1/2 mile walk through a narrow gorge where Glen Creek has worn down the rock over the millennia.

From 07-09 Watkins Glen

There are 19 falls along the way

From 07-09 Watkins Glen

separated by calm pools

From 07-09 Watkins Glen

and narrow flowing water.

From 07-09 Watkins Glen

There are 2 falls you walk behind.

From 07-09 Watkins Glen

From 07-09 Watkins Glen

It is just a lovely walk and well worth a visit.

From 07-09 Watkins Glen