New York

Watkins Glen State Park New York

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Watkins Glen State Park New York

Watkins Glen State Park is in the village of Watkins Glen, south of Seneca Lake in Schuyler County in New York’s Finger Lakes region. The centerpiece of the 778-acre park is a 400-foot-deep narrow gorge cut through rock by Glen Creek.

We visited Watkins Glen State Park in mid-July 2025 while staying at the Watkins Glen / Corning KOA Resort a few miles away. We parked at the Upper Entrance parking area which is actually at the west end of the gorge. The gorge runs between this parking area and the Main Entrance parking area at the east end of the park in the Village of Watkins Glen.

From the Upper Entrance parking area, we descended through the gorge on the Gorge Trail which is the closest trail to the stream and runs over, under and along the park’s 19 waterfalls by way of stone bridges and more than 800 stone steps. Along the trail we passed several landmarks including Jacobs Ladder (a set of stone steps that form the initial descent into the gorge), Mile Point Bridge, Frowning Cliff, Rainbow Falls, Central Cascade, and Glen Cathedral. The scenery along the Watkins Glen gorge was stunning, with spectacular views around every bend.

We dropped about 500-ft in elevation from the start of the approx. 1.2-mile Gorge Trail to Point Lookout where we ascended a set of stone steps to the North Rim Trail that took us back to the Upper Entrance Parking area along the top of the gorge. The North Rim Trail is a natural trail which gradually climbs through the forested rim of the gorge. This contrasted with the stone walkways, steps, and bridges that made up the much more spectacular, but also more crowded Gorge Trail below.

The trails can be hiked out-and-back as we did, but if you only want to hike one-way there is a park shuttle that runs from one end of the park to the other throughout the day. Photos of our visit are provided below. Click on the thumbnails to view the full-size pictures.

Letchworth State Park New York

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Letchworth State Park New York

Known as the Grand Canyon of the East, Letchworth State Park is a 14,350-acre masterpiece. Named in 2015 as the Best State Park in the nation, Letchworth features a wild 17-mile gorge carved by the Genesee River tumbling over waterfalls and meandering through the heart of the park, offering spectacular views at every turn. The river crests over three major waterfalls amid cliffs as high as 600 feet encircled by lush forests teeming with wildlife.

We spent four nights in the Highbanks camping area in loop 800 in early July 2025. There are eight camping loops, four allow pets and four are non-pet loops. Each loop has a shower and restroom building. Common amenities include a store and laundry. The camping loops are all similar with about 30 to 35 sites in each loop. There is a mixture of 30 and 50 amp sites. None of the sites have water or sewer connections, however there is a water fill station on the entrance road to the camping area and a number of shared water spigots at each loop. There are several sewer dump stations on the main road out of the camping area.

We spent three days visiting different areas of the park. The first day we visited the lower falls area which included a 1/2 mile hike from the lower falls recreation area parking lot to a set of stone steps down to the lower falls viewing area and on down to the lower falls stone arch bridge, a historic footbridge that crosses the Genesee River in the Gorge. This bridge was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930’s along with many other infrastructure projects within the park.

On our second day we rode our e-bikes from the camping area about 5-miles north to the Mount Morris dam overlook area. The Mount Morris Dam is a concrete gravity dry dam on the Genesee River. Built between 1948 and 1952, its purpose is to mitigate downstream flooding between Mount Morris and Lake Ontario. We hiked the 1-1/2 mile Highbanks trail from the Dam overlook area down to the Genesee Valley Greenway, a multi-use trail that crosses the Genesee River in the town of Mount Morris. The hike between the dam overlook and the Greenway wound through dense woods along the edge of the Gorge. At some sections along the trail, you could see evidence of the Genesee Valley Canal that used to run parallel to the river between 1840 and 1878.

Our final day touring the park took us to the middle and upper falls. Both falls were just a short walk from the Upper/Middle Falls parking area at the south end of the park. The Upper Falls has a Railway arch bridge crossing immediately above it that creates a dramatic frame over the falls. The middle falls are the highest of the three falls and has the closest viewing area of the three.

We enjoyed our stay at Letchworth State Park. The three days we spent touring the park were enough to see the highlights, but we only touched on a few section of the 66 miles of hiking trails within the park which would take a lot more time to explore.

Erie Canal

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Erie Canal

We took a very enjoyable boat trip in early July 2025 along a section of the Erie Canal in Lockport, New York while staying at the nearby Daisy Barn Campground RV Park in Wilson, about 30 minutes away. The trip lasted around 90 minutes and took us through two of the largest locks on the canal.

The Erie Canal runs 363 miles east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. It was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing the costs of transporting people and goods across the Appalachians. The Erie Canal accelerated the settlement of the Great Lakes region, the westward expansion of the United States, and the economic ascendancy of New York state. It has been called “The Nation’s First Superhighway”.

Our narrated boat trip, operated by Lockport Locks & Erie Canal Cruises traveled just a few miles along the canal but gave us a good understanding of the history of the canal from its opening in 1825, its commercial hay day through the first half of the 20th century, to its current mainly recreational use. A highlight of the trip was traversing the two large locks (labeled E34 and E35) that provide for a 49.1 foot elevation change at the Niagara escarpment. Notably, the escarpment is the cliff over which the Niagara River plunges at Niagara Falls a short distance away. These two locks run next to an original set of five historic locks that now function as a spillway. It was interesting to see the lock doors open and close and to gradually ride the increasing (one way) and decreasing (the other way) water level as the locks filled or emptied.

After heading upward through the locks, the boat turned around at a wide section of the canal a couple of miles later, and we returned back the way we came. The locks empty about twice as fast as they fill so our return journey downward through the locks went a lot quicker than our outward journey.

On the return journey we continued past our original starting point to pass under the historic Adams Street Lift Bridge that was built in 1917. We watched as the bridge was lifted for our boat to pass under on the outward and return journeys.

This was a great boat trip, we not only got to enjoy the beautiful weather and varied scenery but also learned about the history of the Erie Canal and the surrounding area. Photos of our trip are provided below. Click on the thumbnails to view the pictures.

Niagara Falls

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Niagara Falls

We visited Niagara Falls in early July 2025 while staying at the Daisy Barn Campground in Wilson, NY, about 30 minutes away from the falls. The campground is located on the south shore of Lake Ontario.

The falls are within Niagara Falls State Park and are made up of the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls on one side of Goat Island, and Horseshoe Falls on the other side of the island. It’s a short walk across Goat Island between the two sets of falls. The falls are on the Niagara River which connects Lake Erie to the south and Lake Ontario to the north. The Niagara River is the border between the US and Canada, and there are several bridges near the falls that cross between the two countries. Because of the way the border runs along the river, Horseshoe Falls are located on the Canadian side of the border and are also referred to as the Canadian Falls, whereas the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls are located on the US side of the border.

After parking in the nearby State Park Lot 2, we walked the short distance to the Horseshoe Falls viewing area. Horseshoe Falls are huge and very spectacular and there was a tremendous amount of spray generated that constantly blew across the viewing area. While the spray was nice and cooling on the hot day we visited, it made taking photographs difficult. We walked around the tip of Goat Island a short distance to the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. This set of falls has less water flow than the Horseshoe Falls and the spray that it generated did not blow across the viewing area, so it was a lot easier to take clear photographs. At both sets of viewing areas you are just a few feet from the river, which gives a tremendous sense of the huge volume of water and power of the falls.

It was interesting to see a statue of Nikola Tesla near the falls to memorialize the first ever transmission of alternating current electricity using Tesla’s new alternating current (AC) induction motor. That marked the first long distance commercial use of AC transmission from the Niagara Falls hydro-electric power station to Buffalo. Today, power plants on both the American and Canadian sides of the Falls have the capacity to produce up to 2.4 million kilowatts of electricity.

After visiting the falls, we drove a couple of miles north along the Niagara River to the Gorge Stairs Trailhead. We took the trail down a series of steep paths and stone steps to a trail along the river below two iron bridges, one that is no longer in use, and a newer one that carries road and rail traffic between the US and Canada. The trailhead is located across the street from the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center and Museum. An earlier bridge across the river on this site was considered to be the northern terminus of the Underground Railroad that served as a crossing point for many freedom seekers including Harriet Tubman. The small museum provided some very interesting historical information on the Underground Railroad, and its connections to the Niagara area.

We very much enjoyed our visit to Niagara Falls, one of the most iconic American (and Canadian) natural wonders.

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