Map Monday, Watkins Glen State Park

If you live outside the Finger Lakes region, you probably associate Watkins Glen with auto racing.  The first Watkins Glen Grand Prix was held in 1948. The race utilized public roads and ran through the heart of the town.  After the death of a seven-year-old spectator the race was moved out of town, but still held on public roads.  Just three years later the race was moved off public streets and onto a dedicated race track.  The track has been modified multiple times and gone from hosting Grand Prix events to being one of the premier locations on both the Indy Racing and NASCAR circuits.  When races aren’t scheduled it’s also hosted major concerts.  The 1973 Summer Jam attracted 600,000 fans of the The Allman Brothers Band, The Grateful Dead, and The Band.  More recently the jam-band Phish performed before 40,000 in 2015’s Magnaball.

Racing, concerts, and the nearby burgeoning wine industry offer great reasons to visit the southern shores of Seneca Lake.  However, at least for me, there’s an even better reason to visit this part of New York’s southern tier – Watkins Glen State Park.  Of the more than two dozen state parks and historical sites in the region none is more spectacular.

Map of the Park

The park occupies a little less than 800 acres, but don’t let its size fool you.  The park includes camping sites, picnic areas, an Olympic-sized swimming pool as well as snack bars and a gift shop.  But that’s not what makes Watkins Glen special.  The centerpiece is the Glen Creek gorge.  The combination of retreating glaciers and the region’s geology left the creek two miles short and 400′ above the lake.  To close that gap Glen Creek carved a narrow gorge through the rock.  The gorge includes numerous pools, rapids, and nineteen waterfalls.

The park offers three trails.  The Southern Rim and Indian Trails run through the woods along the opposite rims.  They offer pleasant walks with glimpses of the water below.  For the best experience I recommend the Gorge Trail, which weaves along the bottom gorge.  Its five bridges offer spectacular views of the waterfalls, cascades, potholes, and plunge pools.  As a friendly warning, the trail takes you behind two waterfalls; so be prepared to get wet.  Over its course the trail winds through several tunnels and climbs more than 800 steps.

Here are two photos from the Gorge Trail  The first shows the Rainbow Falls as well as a bridge over cascading falls.  The second shows the trail going behind a waterfall that plunges into a deep pool.

While you’re certainly welcome to come to Watkins Glen for the racing or the nearby wineries, don’t forget about the wonderful state park.

As always thanks for reading.

Armen

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