Watkins Glen State Park is located outside the village of Watkins Glen, New York, south of Seneca Lake in Schuyler County in the Finger Lakes
region. The park's lower part is near the village, while the upper part
is open woodland. It was opened to the public in 1863 and was privately
run as a tourist resort until 1906, when it was purchased by New York
State. Since 1924, it has been managed by the Finger Lakes Region of the
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
The centerpiece of the park is a 400-foot-deep (120 m) narrow gorge cut through rock by a stream – Glen Creek – 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 layers of hard 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.
The park features three trails – open mid-May to early November – by
which one can climb or descend the gorge. The Southern Rim and Indian
Trails run along the wooded rim of the gorge, while the Gorge Trail is
closest to the stream and runs over, under and along the park's 19
waterfalls by way of stone bridges and more than 800 stone steps. The
trails connect to the Finger Lakes Trail, an 800-mile (1280 km) system of trails throughout New York state.
The park has comfortable camping sites, as well as picnic tables and
pavilions, food, playground, a gift shop, pool, dump stations, showers,
recreation programs, tent and trailer sites, fishing, hiking, hunting
and cross-county skiing. The entrance fee for a day picnic is $8 per
car. The park is open year-round, but not all facilities are available
at all times.
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