Visiting Letchworth - any suggestions?

[SinceThe70s]

 

Me and the fam' are headed to Letchworth State Park in early July. We plan on booking a balloon ride and rafting. Any suggestions for hikes, restaurants or other things to do in the area? My boys are in college and high school. 

 

Thanks in advance.

[T&C]

4 minutes ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

Me and the fam' are headed to Letchworth State Park in early July. We plan on booking a balloon ride and rafting. Any suggestions for hikes, restaurants or other things to do in the area? My boys are in college and high school. 

 

Thanks in advance.

Nice. Used to be my other back yard BackInThe60s-70s. The Glen Iris Inn is basically a trinket shop nowadays. Always liked the Wolf creek area, good for an hour. There is a pretty cool museum but I forget exactly where that is, worth seeking out. All 3 falls are great of course, middle falls is the main one (backdrop on my phone). Are you all camping there?

[SinceThe70s]

14 minutes ago, T&C said:

Nice. Used to be my other back yard BackInThe60s-70s. The Glen Iris Inn is basically a trinket shop nowadays. Always liked the Wolf creek area, good for an hour. There is a pretty cool museum but I forget exactly where that is, worth seeking out. All 3 falls are great of course, middle falls is the main one (backdrop on my phone). Are you all camping there?

 

Thanks.  Camping is a non-starter for the wife. Staying at a house we booked on airbnb just outside the park (Portageville). Options were limited because we booked so late. 

[Your Brown Eye]

Plenty of trails in Letchworth State Park. Not much to do in Mount Morris. They have a Puerto Rican restaurant that gets good reviews. But aside from that You have to travel outside the area for things to do. (I.e village of Geneseo may have some interesting things since its a college town, Conesus lake which is a small overcrowded finger lake).  Growing up in the area, it was the park and what you could do in the park, like hot air ballooning, white water rafting, hiking, touring the damn and that was it, there was no XYZ in the immediate area outside the park.

[T&C]

58 minutes ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

Thanks.  Camping is a non-starter for the wife. Staying at a house we booked on airbnb just outside the park (Portageville). Options were limited because we booked so late. 

Gotcha. Well, if you were camping there is a trail right behind C12 that takes you down to the river... maybe 1/2 a mile or so. Really fun down there and scenic. Lots of big crayfish for a steamed supper too. Not really a ton to do around there besides nature stuff really. But, it is a must see if someone has never been there... 17 miles long and 1 mile wide, just a beautiful place.

 

I would highly suggest walking the glen at Watkins Glen, not terribly far away. You'll never forget it.

[SinceThe70s]

12 minutes ago, T&C said:

Gotcha. Well, if you were camping there is a trail right behind C12 that takes you down to the river... maybe 1/2 a mile or so. Really fun down there and scenic. Lots of big crayfish for a steamed supper too. Not really a ton to do around there besides nature stuff really. But, it is a must see if someone has never been there... 17 miles long and 1 mile wide, just a beautiful place.

 

I would highly suggest walking the glen at Watkins Glen, not terribly far away. You'll never forget it.

 

We have a day allocated to Watkins Glen.  Not sure how much time we would need there - also thinking of possibly hitting that on our way home. 

[HereComesTheReignAgain]

The Glenn Iris Inn is right in the park and is very good. At least it was years ago when I was there. 
 

https://www.glenirisinn.com/dining/#menus

[T&C]

34 minutes ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

We have a day allocated to Watkins Glen.  Not sure how much time we would need there - also thinking of possibly hitting that on our way home. 

Probably a half a day... 4 hours or so.

[SinceThe70s]

3 minutes ago, T&C said:

Probably a half a day... 4 hours or so.

 

Thanks - that's probably too much for my drive home day.

[Bad Things]

1 hour ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

We have a day allocated to Watkins Glen.  Not sure how much time we would need there - also thinking of possibly hitting that on our way home. 

If you're already at Watkins Glen, be sure to stop by for a beer or food at the Seneca Lodge.  It has a lot of racing history behind it, and is one of the coolest taverns I've ever been in.  It's the real deal.

http://senecalodge.com/contact/

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

View the gorge? 😂

[SinceThe70s]

33 minutes ago, AlCowlingsTaxiService said:

View the gorge? 😂

 

You are clearly a master of the obvious!

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

My father hauled steel for that damn dam.  They would chain the trucks to bulldozers, and the dozer would control their getting down and up from the river bed.  That story, and a couple of bucks will get you a cup of coffee. 🤔😁

Edited June 6, 2022 by Ridgewaycynic2013

[SoTier]

New York State Parks info

12 hours ago, T&C said:

Nice. Used to be my other back yard BackInThe60s-70s. The Glen Iris Inn is basically a trinket shop nowadays. Always liked the Wolf creek area, good for an hour. There is a pretty cool museum but I forget exactly where that is, worth seeking out. All 3 falls are great of course, middle falls is the main one (backdrop on my phone). Are you all camping there?

 

The Glen Iris offers a decent restaurant in a beautiful setting (Middle Falls).  You can walk to the museum from the restaurant.    The Mary Jemison site (there's a monument there) marks the Jemison family home and possibly their family cemetery.  

 

 

8 hours ago, Bad Things said:

If you're already at Watkins Glen, be sure to stop by for a beer or food at the Seneca Lodge.  It has a lot of racing history behind it, and is one of the coolest taverns I've ever been in.  It's the real deal.

http://senecalodge.com/contact/

 

If you're going to Watkins Glen, you might also want to make a day of it, and take the winery trail along the east side of Seneca Lake.   The Ginny Lee Cafe at the Wagner Winery is a thumbs up.   Unfortunately, your boys probably won't be able to do any wine tasting but on the positive side, one can be the designated driver!    

 

Geneva, at the north end of Seneca Lake, is a beautiful historic village.  The historic district is awesome if architecture is your thing.

 

From Geneva, you can take Route 20 west to Cananadaigua, which is a very touristy little city with an interesting little commerical district  on the city pier.  Sonnenberg Gardens is a great historic home with extensive gardens on the grounds. 

 

Ithaca and Taughannock Falls State Park on Cayuga Lake is another good side trip from Watkins Glen, especially if waterfalls and gorges are your thing.  Ithaca is famous for its gorges, many on/around the Cornell University campus.   Taughannock Falls is the highest waterfall in NYS.  You can hike the gorge right up to the falls.

 

If you are going to hit a number of New York State parks on this trip or later in the year, you might consider investing in an Empire Passport which gives you unlimited free access to most state parks for a single fee.   (New York State Parks info)

 

Here's the official Finger Lakes tourism website for more ideas:  Finger Lakes Tourism

 

 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2022 by SoTier

[ExiledInIllinois]

Mt.Morris Dam. What else?

 

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[Just Jack]

19 hours ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

We have a day allocated to Watkins Glen.  Not sure how much time we would need there - also thinking of possibly hitting that on our way home. 

 

If you're heading that direction, you could take a side trip to Naples and get some grape pies. 

 

Cindy's Grape Pies

 

Monica's Pies (I believe they may be closed until Sept)

 

Those are two I've bought from in the past that typically have them year-round. 

Edited June 6, 2022 by Just Jack

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

Lots of bug 🐜 🐛 🐞 spray 

 

[MarkyMannn]

I guess you can get pics of trains on the new bridge, but there are few trains. Bridge is strictly off limits

[Marv's Neighbor]

On 6/5/2022 at 6:56 PM, Your Brown Eye said:

Plenty of trails in Letchworth State Park. Not much to do in Mount Morris. They have a Puerto Rican restaurant that gets good reviews. But aside from that You have to travel outside the area for things to do. (I.e village of Geneseo may have some interesting things since its a college town, Conesus lake which is a small overcrowded finger lake).  Growing up in the area, it was the park and what you could do in the park, like hot air ballooning, white water rafting, hiking, touring the damn and that was it, there was no XYZ in the immediate area outside the park.

Puerto Rico holidays in July:

Birthday of Don Luis Muñoz RiveraMon, Jul 18, 2022

Puerto Rico Constitution DayMon, Jul 25, 2022

Birthday of Dr. José Celso BarbosaWed, Jul 27, 2022

Maybe the restaurant will be busy?

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 hour ago, MarkyMannn said:

I guess you can get pics of trains on the new bridge, but there are few trains. Bridge is strictly off limits

Back in the day... On RR, my father would dead head out through Letchworth over the old trestle.  Just past that, he'd jump off... Hole up in a RR shanty till morning and catch the freight coming back to BFLo.

 

He claimed to have dove from the cliffs by the stone bridge as a kid... But I don't believe him.