Watkins Glen State Park - Finger Lakes, NY

July 2020

Watkins Glen State Park – Finger Lakes, NY

Located right in the heart of the Finger Lakes, Watkins Glen State Park is a perfect way to jump start a day of wine tasting. It is an easily accessible park from downtown with varying trails that showcase the stream cutting through the rock to create the gorge. Sweeping views and 19 waterfalls to find, this would be the perfect way to start out the morning!

Down the street from Glen Mountain Market where we grabbed an early and delicious breakfast is the entrance to Watkins Glen State Park and for $8 a car you have access to the trails. Make sure to get there early! The parking lot and the park fill up quickly with people. On our last trip, we arrived at 7AM to only two other cars in the lot and the park practically to ourselves.

There are easy to moderate trails that are mostly categorized by the number of stairs involved – regardless of the trail you will have stairs. The park immediately rewards visitors with natural beauty. This park had everything- streams, cliffs, waterfalls, gorges- it was far more impressive than we expected! Even when we visited on our second trip, it was still just as impressive as the first time. This destination should definitely be worked into your Finger Lakes trip!