Amazing works of Nature - Camping in Watkins Glen (NY)

Vacation Dates: 15 - 17 August 2008

Route:

I-81N, US-22 W, US-11 N, I-180 W, US-15 N, RT-414

 

This was our second camping trip after the first one at Shenandoah National Park. Watkins Glen is a state park in New York. It lies in the finger lake region. This state park is at the south end of the Seneca Lake, the biggest lake of the finger lakes. Anyone who visits Watkins Glen is sure to fall in love with this place.

I remember we had just come back from our camping trip in Shenandoah on Sunday 10th August and were just talking about our camping adventure when we remembered someone telling us about Watkins Glen. That very moment we explored on the Internet and in an hour we had made our reservations for the campsite two nights. Watkins Glen has several campgrounds, some with electric campsites too. We booked in the Oneida Village. http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=105

The state park is about 202 miles from Harrisburg and it take four hours by road so we decided to start on Friday afternoon. I had already done all the packing, this time we were also carrying an airbed with us. I also packed some dinner for us (vegetable biryani). My hubby came back from work around 1:30pm and we had our lunch and left our place around 2:00pm. The drive was smooth all the way through and didn't seem too long. We stopped in a small town near corning to buy some ice for the cooler, drinks and ice-cream. We reached Watkins Glen around 6:30pm, did our registration and reached our campsite No.111 Oneida Village. The moment I saw it I remembered my friends remark on our Shenandoah campsite. He had commented it as a "5 Star campsite" and this one at Watkins Glen was nothing like it. It looked more like a natural campsite in the forest. We decided to put up the tent first because it was getting dark. While my husband was unwrapping the tent I took out the support poles and to my horror discovered that the connecting elastic string of one of the main poles was broken. We didn't have any kind of needle of wire that could be used to put the strings through the pole pieces to put them together. Somehow both of us managed to string the pole pieces together. It was 7:15pm already so we quickly put up the tent taking utmost care. But a lesson was learnt that one must carry some extra rope, wire, sewing kit while going for camping. Once we were done with the tent we had one more thing to do - inflating the airbed. This time we faced another problem, the hand pump we bought did not fit with the airbed. Some how we managed to inflate it. While I made the bed my better half lit the fire to cook our dinner. We had baked beans, Spanish rice and some of my home cooked vegetable biryani in our dinner menu. While the food was being cooked we had some drinks and enjoyed the scene around. All the surrounding campsites were booked. Everyone had put up their tent and were busy cooking their dinner. At several places water taps were available. The campground had clean restrooms with shower facility too. We had our dinner and it was dessert time. I had baked a cake for our trip so we had chocolate cake with chocolate ice-cream. Hmm it was a delight after all the days hard work. It was 10:00pm when we decided to call it a day and slept.

In both my camping trips I have noticed that I get up early in the morning. Here too I woke up early but decide to lie down as it was dark outside. Around 6:30am I finally woke up and went to take a shower and get ready as it was "rakhi" (our festival). By 8:30am both of us were ready. We had jam and nutella sandwiches for breakfast and packed our lunch, snacks and drinks for the day and set out for hiking. Though the park has three hiking trails but the Gorge trail is the best one. So we decided to hike on that from the main entrance. We started our walk to the main entrance. On the way there is a Lily Pond. On our way ahead we reached the Couch's stairs that lead to the main entrance. From the main entrance we started on the gorge trail. The entrance tunnel leads to the Sentri bridge. Just near the tunnel is a big rock with a hole in it. In the early times water used to flow out of this hole into a saw mill nearby. Next comes the Cavern Cascade, one of the two falls behind which you can walk. Oh what a sight it is? I had never seen anything like this.

The gorge is so beautiful, a marvel of nature. On the trail is a spiral tunnel. The glen of pools ahead forms a breathtaking sight. When I thought nothing could be better, we reached the Rainbow Falls. Though there isn't a gusty flow of water but they are one of their kinds. You can walk behind the Rainbow falls. On a sunny afternoon you can see the dancing colors of the rainbow at the falls. The spiral gorge, the frowning cliffs and the small cascades on the trail give ample opportunities to exhibit your photographic skills. I took all the advantage by posing for my husband's camera. There is a suspension bridge from where you can see the gorge below. The entire trail is 1.5 miles one way and ends at the Upper entrance. At the 'mile point' the other two trails - Indian trail and South Rim Trail' meet the gorge trail. The railway track at the Upper entrance marks the end of the gorge trail. We rested at the Upper entrance for a few minutes and then started our hike back on the gorge trail.

It took us about 2 hours to compete the trail. We had enough time hence we decided to go to campsite and have our lunch. I took out our food items while my husband lit the fire. We had some chicken soup, rice and grilled vegetables for lunch.

I had collected information of the nearby falls in the Watkins Glen area so we decided to go to Eagle Cliff Falls in the Havana Glen Park. This place is about 15 minutes south from Watkins Glen. On the way we saw the Aunt Sarah Falls. This region is aptly called the Montour Falls region. Havan Glen is a small park but the falls are amazing. Both of us had lots of fun under the wonderful Eagle Cliff falls. From here we went to the She-Qua-Ga falls which are in between Watkins Glen and Eagle Cliff Falls.

Our next stop was the Seneca Harbor which is 5 min north of Watkins Glen. Here they have a cruise that takes you on a one hour trip on the Seneca Lake. There are other cruises with meals included. It was 4:00pm so we decided to take the cruise later in the evening. We walked on the rocks laid out on the harbor and enjoyed the peaceful evening. The weather seemed to change so we thought of taking the cruise at 5 but there were no tickets available hence we bought tickets for 6:00pm. We had one hour to kill so we went into the Seneca Harbor Wine shop. After looking at all the wines we decided to take a walk. On the way back to the harbor we sat at a cafe and had coffee. I tried the German Chocolate flavored iced coffee but couldn't get any of that flavor. We reached the harbor on time for our cruise. The weather was perfect and we had a lovely evening cruise. We were told about two salt refineries near the lake and we also saw the Hector falls from our boat the Stroller VI. After the cruise we reached our campsite around 7:00pm. It was time to light the fire. On our way back from the harbor we had bought some chicken and baked beans for grilling. While the fire was being lit, I marinated the chicken and cut onions for sauteing the baked beans. We had grilled chicken, Indian styled baked beans and Cajun Rice for dinner. We also had some french bread with us. It was a full moon night and we decided to walk around the camp ground. Later around 10:30pm we retired to our tent. This place had a lot of mosquitoes, though the net of the tent kept them away. One could also carry citronella candles to keep away insects and mosquitoes.

Next morning we got ready and decided to go to Lucifer falls in the Robert H. Treman State park. We packed our tent and other things, had the left over beans for breakfast and started on our way to Lucifer Falls.

Treman Park is on the south end of Cayuga lake and is about 30min away from Watkins Glen. Once there we took the Rim trail. Its 2.25 miles on way and is quite tiring with so many steps on the way up. We saw the lower falls in the beginning of the trail and then finally got to see the majestic Lucifer Falls from the overlook near the end of the Rim trail.  From the end of the Rim trail we took the gorge trail back. Gorge trail provides the best views of the fall and the gorge. The trail did enervate us.

Once back at the parking lot we had some snacks and drinks. Earlier we had decided to go see the Buttermilk Falls but since it was 12:00pm already we decided to skip them and headed towards the Wagner Winery by the Seneca Lake. It was a 30min drive but worth it. At the winery we took the wine tasting. One could taste 7 wines for $1. They take you through a course of dry wines, followed with semi-dry and end up with their award winning Ice wine. I loved the Niagara wine and the Ice wine. The vineyards with the Seneca lake in the background provide a breathtaking view. We had our lunch (Texas sampler, Mushroom chicken burger and Lakeside chicken) teamed with berry blush drink.

Once done with our lunch we just wandered around the winery. There is a small goldfish pond which also has two beautiful pure white swans. The clock was ticking and it was already 3:00pmand it was time to say goodbye to Watkins. We started our way back directing our GPS to guide us back to Harrisburg. On the way we stopped to see the Hector falls.  They are right on the roadside. We didn't have the time to hike till the bottom of the falls but maybe next time. Voila what a wonderful trip we had. I seem to fall in love with camping and hiking. Its always fun to be with the nature, add some waterfalls and it doubles the fun. So next time you want to have some great fun outdoors, head to Watkins Glen. There is lots to do in and around this area, you are bound to fall in love with the falls like I did.