Ever since moving to New Jersey I have wanted to visit the Finger Lakes Region and whenever we google ‘best hikes in New York State’, Watkins Glen and Buttermilk Falls appear. Since the hotels had re-opened after Covid we decided to visit on our first available weekend.

We booked the Hampton Inn in Ithica for 2 nights and were planning on leaving Friday afternoon. By Thursday evening the weather was showing severe thunderstorms in the region for both Saturday and Sunday and we considered cancelling but decided as the kids only had another 8 weeks or so til they needed to return to England we should just go for it!

On Friday we were out the door by 2.11pm (only 11 minutes later than planned which was amazing for us) and on the road. It was a 260 mile drive to the hotel – and not really anywhere interesting to stop on route except for a couple of service stations.

We arrived in Ithica by 7pm and it was a beautiful evening so headed straight to Cayuga Lake to make the most of the sunny weather in case the rest of the weekend was a wash out.

^{Cayuga Lake}

It was lovely by the lake and bustling. Lots of people had taken their tea to eat or were grilling. There was a great atmosphere. We had a wander and then headed into Ithica to get some dinner. All the restaurants were open for outdoor dining and had limited indoor capacity. We opted to eat at Mia Tapas Bar and sat inside. This was our first meal out since before the lock-down in March. We all shared some tapas dishes including spring rolls, BBQ pork buns, duck pastry parcels and prawn curry. Stu had a local ale and I had a sangria. The food was really good. The prawn curry was probably the first decent curry I’ve tasted since arriving in the US in December.

^{Tapas for Tea}

By the time we finished it was gone 9.30pm so time to head to the hotel for the evening.

The next morning we were up early as wanted to be at Watkins Glen before the crowds arrived. We needn’t have worried. We arrived at the glen before 9am and the car park was empty – probably because it was absolutely pouring with rain. We sat in the car for over an hour watching the storm on the weather radar move slowly over us. It started to clear at about 10.15am and we headed in.

The beauty of the weather being awful was that we practically had the glen to ourselves so could take some amazing pictures. There were lots of waterfalls (some you could walk under) and the rock formations were beautiful. We also spotted two frogs.

^{Watkins Glen State Park}

We were absolutely drenched because of the rain (and from walking under the falls) but it must have been about 30 degrees so we dried pretty quick. We had to walk one way through the glen so we started on the gorge trail and then returned to the car via the rim trail.

After a quick stop off at Burger King for lunch we continued to Robert Treman State Park. We didn’t know anything about this park but when we arrived we saw that the swimming lake was open. We had all the swimming stuff in the car so took it with us on our walk ‘just in case’ the kids wanted to swim.

We arrived at a lake with a waterfall flowing into it which was manned by life guards. Tom and Izzy wanted to get in – it was really quiet probably due to the weather still being grey – so we let them.

^{Robert Treman State Park}

At first it was probably a bit cold but within 10 minutes the sun came out and it was super hot. The kids wanted to reach the waterfall but the currents were quite strong and the water was 15 foot deep. Tom got the closest. They played for about an hour before they decided to get out. It reminded us of the waterfalls in Croatia we swam at – but without the crowds.

Our final stop of the day was Buttermilk Falls State Park. We decided to follow the gorge trail but again as the path was one way we had to climb up the rim trail then return following the gorge. Climbing the rim trail was hard as it was so steep and very hot and humid.

However, when we made it to the gorge it was worth it. Buttermilk Falls is beautiful. Unfortunately as the weather had picked up there were more people out and about now.

^{Buttermilk Falls State Park}

Walking out of the gorge my feet were so sore from my walking shoes – it reminded us of my pathetic effort climbing down Ben Nevis when I told Stu to leave me and save himself!!! By the time we returned to the car and got back to the hotel we were shattered. We had planned on going out for tea but were too tired so Stu picked up a Chipotle instead.

On Sunday we got up later than planned, checked out of the hotel then headed to Taughannock Falls State Park.

^{Taughannock Falls State Park}

It was a short hike before we reached the waterfall. We crossed a bridge and the waterfall was spectacular. Probably my favourite from the weekend. Even the kids were impressed.

It was now time to return home. We tried to do a quick stop at Cascadilla Gorge but it was closed. We went for a quick drive around the Cornell Campus but I think we were all very tired and ready to return to New Jersey. We picked up some lunch from Wegmans and headed home. We encountered the biggest rain storm as we drove through Pennsylvania.