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.