Watkins Glen State Park

Watkins Glen State Park is located at the edge of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, south of Seneca Lake. It is the most famous of the Finger Lakes States Parks, with a reputation of leaving visitors spellbound.
Within two miles, the glen's stream descends 400 feet past 200-foot cliffs and sculpted rock, generating 19 waterfalls and cascades along it's course. Rim trails overlook the gorge.

This is a trip we did with my cousins going way back to 2007. I always thought I should do a blog about this gorgeous place but never got around to it. As they say, better late than never. It's just too beautiful of a place not to share!
 I must say that I am blessed with the greatest "bunch" of cousins and we have gone to places I probably would never get to otherwise. This is one of those places I had never heard of and one of these years my husband and I would love to take a trip back here.  We would love to do some hiking and look for some more waterfalls......and perhaps visit a few of the more than 100 wineries in the Finger Lakes region.

The best way to view the Glen is to ascend the 1.5 mile gorge trail from the main entrance which starts in the village of Watkins Glen to the upper entrance and then return the same way or perhaps a rim trail.

 Our bus took us to the upper entrance so we hiked back down to the village. I think the picture above was taken at the bottom of the first set of steps known as Jacobs Ladder. The park has over 800 steps but fortunately we were going down instead of up!

There are many pools and cascades in the glen.

There's the trail winding along on the left side.

Pluto Falls

I love the stone bridges and how they blend in with the natural surroundings. It's hard to tell where the man-made walls start and end.

Rainbow Falls

This was my favorite place in the gorge.

Central Cascade

Minnehaha Falls with Cavern Cascade in the distance.

Here's a closer look at a heart shaped pool at the base of Minnehaha.

Here the trail goes behind Cavern Cascade.

I may not have all the names correct of the waterfalls or in the right order.

Sentry Falls and Bridge.

If you start your hike at the main entrance this is the first waterfall you will see.

On that same trip we also stopped to see these falls in the Letchworth State Park. We were told there are three waterfalls here but we only went to two of them. These are the upper Falls.

The Middle Falls

These are also part of the middle falls.

The upper and middle falls are located at the same place. The lower falls are about two miles downstream and we did not get to them.  That will be on my list on the next trip.