WATKINS GLEN STATE PARK

'Watkins Glen State Park' is located on the edge of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, south of Seneca Lake in Schuyler County. The main feature of the park is the hiking trail that climbs up through the gorge, passing over and under waterfalls. The park has a lower part that is next to the village and an upper part that is open woodland.
Watkins Glen State Park is in a 400 foot deep narrow gorge cut through rock by a stream that was left hanging, when glaciers of the Ice age deepened the Seneca valley, increasing the tributary stream gradient to create rapids and waterfalls (wherever there were hard layers of rock). The rocks of the area are sedimentary of Devonian age that are part of a dissected plateau that was uplifted with little faulting or distortion. They consist mostly of soft shales, with some layers of harder sandstone and limestone.

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Activities and services

See also

References

External links

Activities and services

The park features a trail (closed early November to mid-May) by which one can climb or descend the gorge. Hundreds of stone steps climb over, under, and along the waterfalls. This trail connects to the Finger Lakes Trail, an 800 mile (1280 km) system of trails throughout New York state.
There are three trails: Indian, Gorge and Southern Rim. The Gorge and Southern Rim trails are closer to the waterfalls. The Indian trail takes you to the upper entrance, through the woods.
Watkins Glen is in New York's Finger Lakes region, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake and west of Ithaca.
The park has comfortable camping sites, as well as pavilions, picnic tables, food, playground, gift shop, pool, dump stations, showers, recreation programs, tent/trailer sites, fishing, hiking, hunting, cross-county skiing. Entrance fee for a day picnic is $7 per car.
Nearby but unaffiliated is Watkins Glen International race track.

See also

★ List of New York state parks

★ Watkins Glen International

References

External links

★ New York State Parks: Watkins Glen State Park

★ LLBean.com: Watkins Glen State Park

★ Friends of The Finger Lakes for a bit of history about the region.

★ Photos Watkins Glen State Park.

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