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Watkins Glen NY
May 1, 2025 (continued)

There aren’t a lot of affordable hotel or AirBnB options around the quaint hamlet of Watkins Glen at the southern end of Seneca Lake, largest of the “fingers”. So I’d chosen the Colonial Inn, seemingly a bare bones but clean and affordable (at least with off-season prices!) mom & pop motel at the southern end of town right next to Watkins Glen State Park, where we wanted to do some hiking anyway.

Despite the small size of the motel, it boasted a virtual contact-less check-in process, which was a first for us at a commercial hotel. We arrived close to our emailed check-in time, but I could not figure out the included instructions for accessing our room through a keypad combo due to the numbers being invisible on the pad unless you bent down to look straight at them. We located a very friendly and helpful housekeeper a couple rooms down, explained our situation, and she helped us gain access, though she seemed surprised that we were even there.

When we got the room open, it hadn’t yet been cleaned after the previous guests, so she brought us inside the nearby ice cream shop to talk to the proprietor. He was friendly as well and came out to see what’s what and apologized that the room wasn’t ready. He asked for an hour to get things ready and we said no problem, as this would give us our chance to explore the nearby gorge anyway. So we pulled on our hiking boots there in the parking lot, locked the car, and strolled down the street a couple blocks to Watkins Glen State Park.

The town has long been known far and wide for its prominence as an auto racing venue and destination. There is a modern NASCAR-level track somewhere nearby, but the old original road course is what peaked our interest. A challenging and curvy road course had been built out using public roads around the gorge and woods of what is now the state park, with a long straight right along the main avenue. There are markers installed on the sidewalk, which I fondly remember as a rally bonus back in the 2018 Butt Lite, indicating the old start/finish line of the course. Char’s dad had done some amateur stock car racing in his youth, competing a few times in Watkins Glen during his career, so she was excited to see a bit of connection to her family history.

The State Park wasn’t open for the season yet. The visitor center was inaccessible, and we found that the main Gorge Trail was also still closed to the public, due to cleanup and maintenance needed after the typically heavy winter weather exposure. Disappointed, we were still awed by the sheer cliff faces and beautiful waterfall pouring out of the end of the gorge.

We opted to hike up the North Rim Trail instead, which involves an immediate steep climb from the park entrance area to the top of the gorge, involving countless small stairs. We ascended slowly but surely, taking a few breaks to catch our breath and enjoy the entrance views from a different perspective.

It’s a lovely woodsy hike along the gorge rim, slightly ascending the entire length, with several outlook points and a couple foot bridges to the South Rim Trail, allowing us views down to the water and the concrete pathways and stairs that the Gorge Trail traces, along and over the flow of the stream, dozens of feet below us.

The trail ends at another parking area where a railroad trestle crosses high above the gorge. Here, we took a brief break and used the available porta-potties before turning to head back down the way we’d come. We crossed one bridge to explore a bit of the South Rim Trail, but found that it was also closed for most of its length, due to erosion and seasonal maintenance. So we retraced our hike down the north rim back to the entrance on route 14, making much better time on the downhill grade.

Returning to the hotel, we found our room was finally ready. We were significantly underwhelmed by the accommodation that we had secured for the next three nights. While clean and functional, the room was the definition of sparse, and very tiny and uncomfortable. There was a small round table crammed between the full-size bed and the rear wall with only one old desk chair. The bed mattress was super squishy and soft, thus awkward and uncomfortable for sitting. The bathroom was tiny, with hardly any surface areas for our stuff and barely enough room to maneuver or even stand in the small shower. We had gotten a significant deal via hotels.com with off-season pricing, and I couldn’t imaging paying what they have listed for full price during the tourist season!

I guess location really is everything, because at least we were right within walking distance to everything in the village. After cleaning up, we moseyed down Franklin Street, the main drag, to have some supper at the Roosterfish Pub, on recommendations from a friend. It was nice to be able to enjoy a couple pints of local craft beer with my fish tacos without worrying about riding back to the hotel. Char had a Beyond burger — not her favorite, but satisfactory after a full active day. The place was dead, but the owner/server was friendly and seemed glad to have our business.

Back at the hotel, the little creamery out front (run by the hotel proprietor) was still open for business so we each got a small dish of ice cream to enjoy outside in some colorful Adirondack chairs by the sidewalk, watching the light traffic and occasional pedestrians drift by.

 

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Watkins Glen NY – Letchworth State Park
Fri May 2, 2025

The bed had proven almost as uncomfortable to sleep on as to sit, so neither of us got a very good rest last night. Unsurprisingly, there was no coffee maker provided, so finding caffeine and sustenance was primary on our morning’s agenda.

We walked back down Franklin Street into downtown to the Blackberry Inn Kitchen, a small bakery & cafe close to Roosterfish Pub. We drank some (mediocre) coffee while waiting for our breakfast sandwiches to be made by the elderly duo who run the joint, enjoying the quiet morning sunshine pouring through the big sheet glass window, with locals coming in to pick up their choice of bagels and pastries.

We took our coffee and sack of food with us and continued walking north to check out the lakefront area. Watkins Glen lies at the very southern tip of Seneca Lake. While boating and water activities no doubt play a huge part in their summer season tourism draw, we had the big dock area to ourselves this fine spring morning, wiping the dew off the benches of a handy picnic table to enjoy our meal with a view.

After strolling out the docks and to the end of the granite-block breakwater that protects the small marina, we headed back through town, taking in the cool racecar murals and storefront architecture of downtown.

Today’s plan is to head northwest, to explore Letchworth State Park. Neither of us has been there, but it’s a site that figures prominently in the NER motorcycle rides and attractions for the area, with more gorges and waterfalls to see. There’s rain in the forecast for later, especially up near the park, but we’ll just be hiking and we have rain jackets to keep us protected, so what’s a little water? We certainly weren’t going to spend the day in that miserable hotel!

After cleaning up back at our room, we drove to pick up some subs at Holy Cow Deli near the southern town line before striking west on CR 23 through the beautiful NY countryside. It was about an hour or so drive. We passed through Tyrone and Bradford under increasingly cloudy skies to pick up to I-86 at Bath. Then blasting some 40 miles north on I-390 up to the town of Mt. Morris and the northern entrance to Letchworth.  A mile or so into the wooded park road, we pulled into a turnout to get a quick look at the Mt. Morris Dam, which manages flow from the Genesee River — which is the property’s centerpiece and the architect of the mighty gorge — on it’s way out of the park.

Driving further south on the main park road along the canyon rim, we stopped a a couple of the scenic vistas to take in the muted beauty of the Genesee far below.

Eventually, we made our way down to the Lower Falls area parking lots, in the southern half of the park. This is where the Gorge Trail (and our hike) begins, our goal being to see all three main waterfalls in the gorge. To reach the Lower Falls, it was necessary to follow a steep spur path called simply “6A”, down from the rim via a lot of stairs built into the wooded canyon slope. We could see the opening of the gorge from a lookout at the top, framed by the historic arched pedestrian bridge that connects the trail systems on both sides of the river.

Slowly but surely we descended the old stone stairways (this REALLY would suck in motorcycle boots!), emerging finally at the old foundation of a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built camp. The CCC constructed the dam, most of the trail stairways, and several camp areas and building around the park back in the 1930s, not to mention this magnificent little concrete bridge that provides the only pedestrian crossing of the Genesee River in the park.

Just upstream from the bridge is the grand sight of Lower Falls. Being spring with a lot of recent wet weather, the flow over the falls was tremendous, similar to what we’d seen in Ithaca.

After having our senses blasted by the roar of the falls for a bit, we finished out the small 6A loop, within the canyon, climbing up on a portion of smooth gravel trail that was technically closed at the moment due to it’s steepness. We had to stop many times just to let our legs and knees rest and were grateful to reach the staircase again for a flat place to stand!

The Gorge Trail is an easy, wide footpath along the rim, with occasional views to the sheer rock walls and river raging dozens of feet below. After about a mile of hiking, we reached Inspiration Point, the most popular outlook in the park, being right next to the park road with its own parking area. While there were several other visitors ambling around, it didn’t feel crowded by any means. With a view directly up the canyon at both the Middle and Upper waterfalls, framed by the Genesee Arch Bridge, we could easily understand why this vista was so named. Definitely a must-see stop if riding through here!

As we continued around the bend, we encountered a more hikers than we had been seeing. We are now entering the busier “falls area” of the park, where visitors park to make shorter hikes between the bigger two waterfalls and Inspiration Point. The trail is also noticeably squeezed into the narrow wooded strip of land between the gorge and the park road through this stretch.

The trail merges briefly onto the road to cross Deh-ga-ya-soh Creek on a lovely old arched bridge, that requires a short steep detour to view from below. The creek tumbles off the rim below you here, just past the bridge, forming 150-ft Deh-ga-ya-soh Falls. You can partially see this cascade in times of low foliage like this, as you walk around the next corner to an overlook back toward Inspiration Point.

By now, the roar of Middle Falls is omni-present. From this viewpoint, we turned south and descended a series of “rustic stone stairway steps” straight towards the biggest falls in the park.

 

 

The noise was incredible and the spray filled the air. The footpath was a bit flooded from a small overflowing stream uphill in addition to the airborne droplets, so we just felt completely inundated by water as we walked the rim here, feeling like we could just reach out and touch the white curtains of rushing foam. Very intense!

There’s a huge set of parking lots starting here almost all the way to the Upper Falls, but the footpath continues along close to the river. We stuck to the trail as the skies decided that we weren’t quite wet enough and began to sprinkle rain lightly down on us..

By the time we got within sight of our final turn-around point, the rain was becoming steady, so we quickly sought shelter, walk-jogging to one of the stone-and-wood picnic pavilions scattered around this part of the property. Being famished by now, we broke out our subs and chips for a welcome lunch break while watching the water patter down in waves — a pleasant echo of the mighty flows over the nearby cascades in the river.

By the time we finished, the showers abated and the sun was already peeking around the clouds to highlight the gracefully arched bridge above Upper Falls. A train happened to be crossing by right at that moment, so I rushed over to snap a couple photos of opportunity.

We gazed at the falls for a bit longer and then retraced our hike all the way back along the gorge to the Lower Falls parking area and our car. We paused only briefly for a quick gander at the Glen Iris Inn, a sort of mini visitor center and historic hotel, but didn’t feel like going inside, feeling a bit punch drunk and waterlogged from the gorgeous scenery and pounding volume of water.

Here is a short video montage of the three main waterfalls of Letchworth that day.

Emerging from the park in Portageville, we headed back out to I-390 and then continued straight east for a roundabout scenic route back to Watkins Glen. We passed through Naples at the south end of Canandaigua Lake, as I wanted to see a pie shop there (closed), and then straight over Italy Hill to the north ends of Y-shaped Keuka Lake.

I pointed out the huge world-record-setting griddle pan hanging up on a building in Penn Yan for Char (IBR bonus) and then we proceeded south via NY 14 along the length of Seneca Lake to our hotel. The weather was nice now, but apparently the passing storms we’d caught the edge of during lunch had been quite severe in Watkins Glen. Power was out in some parts of town, but the Thai restaurant we’d marked out for dinner, Green Elephant, appeared to be open for business. After cleaning up, we strolled a block or two and enjoyed a delicious meal, with super-friendly service.

Back at the hotel, we attempted to get another ice cream at the attached creamery, but the proprietor seemed in a foul mood, maybe due to the power outages, and refused to serve us, even though it was still business hours. Despite the great day and good meal, that unpleasant interaction plus the rain and uncomfortable hotel room dampened our own spirits back down a bit, and we started talking about heading home a day early. We’d originally planned to stay until Sunday, but neither of us wanted to spend another day/night in this room. We made our plans to visit one last Finger Lakes attraction tomorrow, and then make our journey home directly after.

Today’s excursion had been very fun. While I did miss being on the motorcycle, it’s very unlikely we would have taken time for such a longer relaxed hike through Letchworth if we’d been worrying about getting back on the bike to finish out a route afterward, in the rain. It’s a different sort of trip, but not altogether unpleasant!