The eleven lakes that make up New York's Finger Lakes are natural made lakes. Of course, mother nature often takes her time, and she certainly did in creating these masterpieces. It took a few million years and an ice age, but the wait was well worth it.
At a little over thirty-seven miles in length, Seneca Lake is the second longest of the Finger Lakes (Cayuga Lake is the longest at just under 39 miles). At its widest point it's about three and a half miles wide and it reaches depths of over 700 feet. A pretty impressive body of water in both size and beauty.
As I mentioned in previous blogs, we're staying in Geneva which is on the north end of the lake. At the south end is the village of Watkins Glen. We had done a few outings on both the east and west side of the lake visiting a few places like 3 Brothers Winery, Weaver View Farms and Spotted Duck Creamery. On Tuesday we "looped the lake" completely. It was no great feat of endurance; it was a little less than an hour's drive down the east side of the lake and the same amount of time coming back up the west side. Some of the drive was along what is designated as the Seneca Lake Scenic Byway, while at other times we were on the Seneca Lake Wine Trail. No matter what road we were on, the scenery was magnificent. There were rolling farmlands, vineyards and wineries, occasionally small villages, and of course Seneca Lake was rarely out of view. The drive was relaxing but we did expend a bit of energy in the middle, hiking the Gorge Trail in Watkins Glen State Park. The trail is only a mile and a half in length, but it does include 832 stairs to reach the top. We were enjoying passing by and even underneath waterfalls so much that we practically forgot about the stairs.....just kidding, we felt all 832 of them!
The Gorge Trail and its stairs are worth the effort if at all possible. It can be done as an "out and back" trail, or there is an option of taking the Gorge Trail one way and the Indian Trail the other way. We chose to go up on the Gorge Trail and come down on the Indian Trail. Although this meant climbing instead of descending the stairs, we both felt it was easier. It had rained earlier so the stairs were wet and slippery and would have been challenging to go down. Also, going up the stairs you're facing the waterfalls, coming down, the views wouldn't be the same. Of course, if you feel ambitious you can go up and down on the Gorge Trail and enjoy 1,664 stairs!
Our Airbnb hosts own and operate a number of businesses around Geneva. One of these businesses is a boat rental and tour operation. We appreciated the opportunity to do a one hour narrated tour on the lake. The tour started from the Finger Lakes Visitors Center in Geneva. The very informative tour went down the east side of the lake past the swanky Geneva on the Lake Hotel before crossing over to the west side. Returning we cruised past many gorgeous lakeside homes, Ventosa Vineyards and Stivers Marina before making our way back to the dock.
Seneca Lake Water Quality Buoy
