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New York Finger Lakes Page 4: Watkins Glenn

Watkins Glen is the 'premier' state park in this area. It is a mile gorge with a stream cascading down various falls, plus another half mile above that is a more placid stream. This is a photographer's paradise. I'm sure you can find a lot of pictures on-line of the park, and we will add ours to the collection. (There is a car race track in Watkins Glen as well, which you will see if you do a search on the internet.)

The park closes the second week or so of November, since water gets on the paths and makes it slippery in cold weather. So our timing for vacation was good. We went to this park on two different days.

The view starts in the parking lot, on the way to the gorge entrance. One of the park's stone bridges welcomes visitors.

The actual entrance in is through a tunnel that brings you to that bridge.

Once inside, there are some lovely falls with the path along side it. The path is wet in many places, which is why they close the gorge in the winter. The pictures are roughly in the order that you encounter the scenes when walking from the main entrance.

This next image is a mini-falls within a slightly larger falls (although of course the size pales in comparison to the one behind them).

It was very, very, very hard to narrow this down to which pictures to share. Some very nice pictures had to be left out. I did leave a few of my more abstract pictures in, though, despite the competition. I figure you need a break from all the water.

Here is a view back towards the entrance. There is a little viewing (and picture) platform that they provided for visitors. One of the things that amazed us is how straight the rock layers were. We are used to seeing upheavals, where every layer is at an angle.

One of the major falls in the gorge, called Cavern Cascade:

I find this next image very peaceful.

The gorge is very deep in many places. These next few shots emphasize that.

Central Cascade is this next large fall.

Notice on this sign the "You are here" mark, which is well inside the cliff.

That is a lot for one page, so on to the next:

 

Updated July 2020