Finger Lakes/Adirondacks – Intro
The year 2020 will forever be painfully remembered as the year of the COVID pandemic. Precautionary tactics impacted the lives of everybody in many ways. One way it impacted Emilie and me was the cancellation of our planned summer adventure to the Olympic Peninsula, and then driving home to Massachusetts across Canada (with planned adventures at Banff and other Canadian parks and sites).
Like many others, we changed our summer plans to be more local in nature. We plan to do our Pacific Northwest and Canadian parks road trip in 2021.
Over the years, we had driven across New York state many times going to Niagara Falls, Michigan, Chicago, etc. However, other than for some fascinating NY State Thruway rest stops we never actually stopped to explore upstate New York; we had always just passed through. So, we decided this was the summer to explore the Finger Lakes/Adirondacks areas. (Technically, Emilie had explored the area in the past with other people, but that doesn’t count).
Finding campground availability in New York in May proved impossible. Reservations weren’t being taken until June as they awaited final say from the state government regarding opening campgrounds at all this summer due to COVID. So, the day they officially opened to online reservations I was ready. I pounced, and fortunately was able to secure a campground site in the Finger Lakes region at Watkins Glen near Ithaca, and a second campsite in the Adirondack Mountains region near Lake Placid. Campground availability therefore played a major role in determining where we would be adventuring around the Finger Lakes and the Adirondacks for a week in July.
I did some internet research and found some awesome hikes to hit in the Adirondacks, some state parks and waterfalls in the Ithaca area, and wineries along Seneca Lake. Even though there aren’t too many bike-path options around the Seneca Lake and Lake Placid areas we took our bikes along anyway, just to keep that option open.
High level Finger Lakes/Adirondacks itinerary:
| Date | Event | Notes | Activity |
| 13-Jul | Arrive Watkins Glen State Park | Campsite Reservation #: 2-3779. 3 nights. | Gorge Trail |
| Seneca Wine Trail | |||
| Ithaca: 30 minutes from campground | 1) Buttermilk Falls Gorge Trail – Hiking. Swimming at base of falls is allowed. (Ithaca). 2) Taughannock Falls. Rim Trail and Gorge Trail (Ithaca). 3) Robert Treman State Park/Lucifer Falls/Enfield Glen (gorges & hiking…Ithaca). |
||
| Town of Skaneateles | |||
| 16-Jul | Lake Placid / Whiteface Mtn. KOA | KOA Reservation #: 4423. 3 nights. | Whiteface Mountain Summit Trail – Hiking (Difficult, 9-mile out and back) |
| Adirondack Wildlife Refuge | |||
| 30 minutes from campground | Cascade Mtn. Trail – Hiking | ||
| 17-Jul | Ausable Chasm | 10:00 a.m. reservation for trails and riverwalk | Ausable Chasm Trail – Hiking (very short) |
Next: Finger Lakes – Ithaca
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