State Parks of the Finger Lakes Region

Plus a visit to the Corning Glass Museum

June 2022

Our first visit to the Finger Lakes region just scratched the surface of all there was to see. We stayed at Watkins Glen State Park at the southern end of Seneca Lake, and we visited Taughannock State Park on the shore of Cayuga Lake. These two lakes are the longest of the Finger Lakes. We also stayed at Letchworth State park, which is not on one of the Finger Lakes, but is close to the region.

Watkins Glen is a very popular state park. We were lucky to snag a campsite. However, it had recently rained, and since the campsite was dirt, it made for a messy spot. While the campground left something to be desired, the hike through the gorge was excellent, although crowded. We decided to wait a day to hike it, in order to give the path time to dry out after the rain, but it was still pretty wet in spots.

There are so many waterfalls, and the trail went behind one of the waterfalls shown in this picture.

Even though it was a sunny warm day, it was dark in the deepest parts of the gorge.

view of the southern tip of Seneca Lake from a park in the town of Watkins Glen

Later the same day, we drove to Taughannock Falls. We first walked an easy trail to the base of the falls, but the bright sun made it difficult to get decent photos. We then drove to a viewpoint above the falls. This is the tallest waterfall in the northeastern U.S. at 215 feet. The flow was pretty low, unfortunately.

View of the river as we walked along the trail to the falls. People were wading in the shallow water.

view of Cayuga Lake from Taughannock Falls S.P.

Since we decided to give the trails time to dry up at Watkins Glen, we spent our first full day in the area at the Corning Glass Museum. The museum was huge and very interesting, taking several hours to tour. We also paid extra to make something out of glass at the adjoining studio. First, we toured the contemporary art gallery and the innovation center, which centered on the uses of glass. The pink piece on the lower right was made by Dale Chihuly.

Then we went to the studio. Craig made a pendant by melting colored glass rods with a torch. I made an ornament by stepping on a pedal to blow the glass. Mine was not a hands-on activity like some of the others, but it was fun to watch the artisans and talk to them about it. They had to go through several years of training.

After lunch and a walk through the museum shop, we toured the large exhibit “35 Centuries of Glass”, which had pieces from ancient Egypt and Greece up to the present. Top row: glass harmonica and cut glass boat by Baccarat

Micromosaics were glass pictures made with tiny colored glass rods. The small details were impressive! Below is a “painting” and a close-up showing the detail.

This ring made in Italy is an amazingly detailed micromosaic.

This table top made in Italy is a larger mosaic made of ancient glass fragments found in excavations.

The 12-gallon punch bowl below is said to be the largest cut-glass punch bowl in existence, made from 50 pounds of glass for the Tiffany company. Its retail price was $3000 in 1904, and its whereabouts were unknown until it was found in the attic of its original owner.

Of course, in addition to ancient glass, Venetian glass, and glass from many other countries, in the form of jewelry, dishes, and furniture, the exhibit had several Tiffany & Co. pieces, including this large stained glass window that was once in a mansion on the Hudson River.

The two windows below were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

This museum was so interesting and filled with beautiful artworks, but our feet were hurting from all the standing, so at this point we headed back to our campsite.

The last state park we visited in central New York was Letchworth, which was voted the top state park in the U.S. in 2015., and which is known as “The Grand Canyon of the East”. We were able to reserve a site for two nights. The campground is on the opposite end from the rest of the large park, so it was a bit of a drive to the scenic areas.

View of Letchworth Gorge, which is up to 500 feet deep.

This view was from one of several scenic overlooks. That is the Genesee River.

View of the Hogsback, an interesting spine of rock that juts into the valley. The viewpoint was partially obscured by trees.

Middle Falls

Upper Falls

The middle and upper falls are right next to the parking lot. The lower falls require a hike down, which means you have to hike back UP! Since it was hot and very humid while we were there, and we still didn’t have a working air conditioner in the RV to cool us off, we decided to skip the lower falls.

On our first evening, we ate a pricey dinner at the Glen Falls Inn across from the middle falls. The next day, we spent time in the museum (partly so we could be in air conditioning for awhile!) The museum told about Mr. Letchworth, who owned and protected the land the state park is now on.

Letchworth was a beautiful park and well worth the visit. From there, we headed to Lake Ontario. We will be seeing all five Great Lakes this summer, and Lake Ontario was the first stop.