Incredible place in New York
This place truly is a wonderland hidden in the U.S.A ! I had been wanting to visit Watkins Glen State Park for many years but was never able to put a road trip together for it. Finally at the start of my adventure I made sure to make it my first destination ! Truth be told, Upstate New York has lots of caverns, waterfalls and chasms. Its one of those states chock full of amazing little places that are tucked away.
Watkins Glen State Park is located outside the village of Watkins Glen, south of Seneca Lake in Schuyler County in New York's Finger Lakes region. The park's lower part is near the village, while the upper part is open woodland.
My experience - So I made plans to get there very early, as soon as the sun was coming up, I was the only soul in the parking lot. My suggestion to you is to do the same. This place gets pretty packed on a nice day especially in the summer and fall seasons. Getting there very early will most likely guarantee you a couple hours to yourself. The walks are narrow and usually wet so the less wiggling past people the better. At least for me. There are actually 2 ways to enter the park, the upper and the lower entrance. I would do the lower entrance which really is the main way to get in anyway. The wow factor of looking up at the waterfalls and bridges is that much more profound compared to coming in the top entrance and looking down at everything, although I suspect that could be cool in its own way.
Another suggestion, and this is a big one, wear boots. Even in the summer time, even if it hasn't rained. The small waterfalls trickle down the cliffs and onto the stone walks making a wet and possibly slippery situation. However it does add to the mystique to this place.
If I had to pick a season to visit The Glen as locals call it, I would probably pick Autumn because that's where you get the orange and yellow leaves coming down onto the rocks, just like in this video! Honestly though, this place is beautiful all year round.
Some history - It was opened to the public in 1863 and was privately run as a tourist resort until 1906, when it was purchased by New York State. Initially known as Watkins Glen State Reservation, the park was first managed by the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society before being turned over to full state control in 1911. Since 1924, it has been managed by the Finger Lakes Region of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
So how was this formed? Do you really want to know?
From Wikipedia- During the Pleistocene era, a vast area was covered by ice during the maximum extent of glacial ice in the north polar area. The movement of glaciers from the Laurentide and Wisconsin ice sheets shaped the Finger Lakes region. The lakes originated as a series of northward-flowing streams. Around two million years ago the first of many continental glaciers of the Laurentide Ice Sheet moved southward from the Hudson Bay area, initiating the Pleistocene glaciation. These glaciers widened, deepened and accentuated the existing river valleys. Glacial debris, possibly including terminal moraines, left behind by the receding ice acted as dams, allowing lakes to form. Despite the deep erosion of the valleys, the surrounding uplands show little evidence of glaciation, suggesting that the ice was thin, or at least unable to cause much erosion at these higher altitudes. The deep cutting of the valleys by the ice left some tributaries hanging high above the lakes: both Seneca and Cayuga have tributaries hanging as much as 390 feet (120 m) above the valley floors.
One such hanging valley, overlooking the south end of the Seneca Lake valley, evolved into the deep gorge of Watkins Glen. The steep drop of Glen Creek into Seneca Valley created a powerful torrent that eroded the underlying rock, cutting further and further back towards the stream's headwaters. This erosion was not a uniform process: the rock here includes shale, limestone, and sandstone, and these types of rock erode at different rates, leaving behind a staircase of waterfalls, cascades, plunge pools and potholes. Watkins Glen State Park now encompasses nineteen waterfalls spaced along a trail roughly two miles.
Be sure to check out this hidden wonderland that is Watkins Glen for yourself ! I will definitely be back to check out the waterfalls in all the different seasons.
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