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Published: November 18th 2012
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Wednesday, September 19th We left SamsonState Park and drove south through more vineyards on highway 414 to the very end of Seneca Lake and into the town of Watkins Glen. This is a picturesque town with a marina that was full of boats that can sail up the lake and into the Erie Canal System. We were there to see the falls and camp in the State Park, but the town may be best known for its
auto racing history. It is the home of a street course used in
road racing, a famous racetrack the
Watkins Glen International, and a historic race, the
Watkins Glen Grand Prix. (Please note: the links are not ours, and I can't get rid of them.)
Before getting to the park, we spotted a car wash next to a Wal-mart and did the honors with soap and water and pressured washed Rosie down. She was filthy with a very sticky marsh mud from driving through the Montezuma wildlife preserve. Not sure how the back tires do it, but the back windows always seem to get completely covered in mud when we travel on wet dirt roads.
The Watkins Glen Park entrance is located right in the downtown area. The
19 waterfalls down this deep gorge was once part of a private tourist resort that opened to the public in 1863 and then was purchased by NY State in 1906. Later, the CCC built many of the buildings out of rock and those are still standing; however, the old resort buildings are gone.
The park attendant gave us a brochure and told us the campgrounds were near the top of the gorge and that we had to take a road at the next stop light. We discovered that within two miles, the glen's stream descends 400 feet past 200-foot cliffs creating the 19 waterfalls over the layers of rock. If you want to see all of the falls, you need to walk up 800 stone steps (and then down again those same steps). We decided to examine our options and planned on hiking and seeing the falls in the morning when we were fresh and rested. So, found a site to camp at the top in the trees.
On Thursday, September 20th, morning we thought we would be able to navigate two different parts of the trail. We headed first for a trail that overlooks the
gorge and hiked down it to Suspension Bridge, where you can see several cascades and the trail from the entrance. The bridge is 85’ above the narrows, which is said to have its own micro-climate. This is the area where the original inn, gardens, and walking trails were built.
Once we explored the old area, we then drove further down the hill to the park entrance, which is the start of a trail that leads to the stairs and a tunnel into the very narrow gorge. Together we climbed up several flights of stairs and then I waited by one set of falls while Valerie climbed up further to see some more. Really pretty with ferns and flowers in the cliff face.
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