Finger Lakes 2023

August 22-30, 2023

Getting on the road for this trip to Upstate New York took a bit longer than anticipated as we were taking our electric bikes for the first time, and it took some time to figure out how to load them. We were happy, though, that the Swagman bike rack we purchased with the extension hitch works really well!

After arriving at the Letchworth State Park campground, we set up camp, took a short walk, and visited the camp store, which turned out to sell everything anyone might need for camping and also had a local produce stand on the premises. Being able to hang up the hammock surrounded by deep forest, having clean individual bathrooms with showers, and being able to hike right from the campground, made this campground one of our favorites.

We didn’t realize that the falls at Letchworth are about 10 miles from the campground, so we had the opportunity to test our e-bikes as useful modes of transportation. They were excellent! Riding the Park Rode nearly the whole way, the e-bikes made going up the hills easy. Leaving our bikes at the Visitor’s Center, we hiked to the middle and upper falls. We didn’t realize that the trail paralleled Park Road and that you can drive to each of the falls. The falls are beautiful, and we liked the middle falls the best. We also rode our bikes into Perry, NY, a town that is very small with not much to see or do, other than to go to the Silver Lake Brewery Project, which is worth the trip.

From Letchworth, we headed out to test our new kayak at Keuka Lake State Park, where we had reserved a campsite for two nights. Despite the earlier rain and some ominous clouds, we found that our Quest Pataka kayak works really well, and we enjoyed being on a beautiful lake.

While at the campground, we noticed that our bathroom floor was continuously wet and discovered that the toilet had a leaky valve. Luckily, we had enough cell service to find a YouTube video that showed us how to fix the problem. Reassured that this was a minor concern, we enjoyed the rest of our trip, riding our bikes to Penn Yan, a cute town with a small farmers market where we purchased blueberries and strawberry-rhubarb jam. Then we rode the scenic Keuka Outlet Trail to Dresden through the woods along a small river. Dresden has absolutely nothing to see other than Seneca Lake, so we rode to the Seneca Stag Brewing Company for some good beer.

Driving to our last stop on our trip to Treman State Park, we took the scenic route past Seneca Lake, through Watkins Glenn, to Taughannock Falls State Park, where saw the main falls, hiked the South Rim Trail, and then drove to Seneca Lake for our second kayak ride. Before arriving at our campsite, we stopped at Bet the Farm winery, enjoying a glass of wine overlooking a beautiful valley.

Despite being in a beautiful setting, Treman State Park was our least favorite as our site was small and narrow, and the electric outlet and water spigot were down a hill a bit. None-the-less, the campground staff were very nice, and we were able to hike directly from the campsite on both the Rim Trail and Gorge Trail. Lucifer’s Falls was particularly spectacular. Because the weather was a bit cold, we did not swim beneath the waterfalls, but maybe next time…

The campground was also very close to Ithaca, which was our ultimate destination. We walked around Ithaca, hiked up the Gorge Trail which as beautiful,, and found the Liquid State Brewing Company. We also at dinner at the Moosewood Restaurant and had a wonderful dinner of wheat sourdough with olive oil, Hato Mugi and Baby Kale Salad (which was really excellent), and Moroccan Chickpea Stew. Despite being very rainy while in Ithaca, we had a fun time before we headed home.