Watkins Glen Day Trip
We spent yesterday (Saturday, September 9) driving to, driving home from and in Watkins Glen, NY. We were on our way out of our hometown of Warren, PA at 6:45 am. We drove through Scandia to Onoville to Interstate 86. We saw ten deer along the way. All but one deer was along the side of the road or crossed the road in front of us.
It was a chilly and foggy start to our day.
It is going to be a beautiful day!
We arrived at Watkins Glen State Park (Upper Entrance) shortly before 10:00 am. Our Empire Pass Card provided free admission to the park. We hiked the Gorge Trail to the Main Entrance, stopping often to take pictures. I put together a slideshow to share with you the pictures taken during our hike. I used Photoshop Premiere Elements to create the slideshow. It was the first time that I used that program to create a slideshow. I found the slideshow creation to be simple and easy. I need to download royalty free music, though. If the music loop in the video becomes annoying to you, please click on the audio icon and turn it off!
What a great day for hiking the Gorge Trail! It was a cool morning, with a touch of Autumn in the air. It was a much more enjoyable hike, when the air was cool instead of on a hot summer day. Additionally it was off season, and the trail was not crowded. It took us 1 1/2 hours to hike down the gorge.
We arrived at the Main Entrance, as the shuttle bus that would have taken us back up to the Upper Entrance was pulling out. It was a 30-minute wait for the next shuttle bus. The shuttle bus costs $5.00 each. As a side note, we could have saved the cost of the shuttle bus by taking either the Gorge Trail or Indian Trail back to the upper entrance. Bob would have been able to make the hike back to the upper entrance. I, on the other hand, would not have been able to make the hike back, given my current condition (overweight and arthritic knee).
We ate lunch at the Village Marina Bar & Grill, our go-to restaurant when in Watkins Glen. We started our lunch with a basket of onion rings. Bob’s entree was a Southwest Chicken Salad. I ordered a Honey Glazed BBQ chicken sandwich with house-made Kettle chips. Both the service and food was excellent.
We finished lunch around 1:15 pm and began our drive home. We made a few stops on the way home — the Cuba Cheese Shoppe in Cuba NY, the Sheetz in Bradford PA for a caffeine fix, and a fuel stop at Exxon also in Bradford. We returned home around 5:30 pm. Bob and I both agree that our day trip made for a fun day.
The Beauty Around Us 
6 Responses to “Watkins Glen Day Trip”
Watkins Glen is definitely on our bucket list.
Hello, it does look like a great place. I will add it to our list. Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!
Wonderful. So would you consider going back to follow any of the other trails or do you think you saw the site from the best perspective already?
I believe I have seen the trail from the best perspective. I am interested, though, in hiking back to the top via the Indian Trail. I need to research this trail, though, to find out if I feel confident that I could make that hike.
Keep in mind that the shuttle bus doesn’t run all the time. Please check the Watkins Glen State Park website (address provided in my blog post) regarding shuttle bus hours, as well as any other information on the trails themselves.
This is such a nice looking place Linda. I love that old stone bridge, the waterfall and glad you include yourself in the photos, Bob too of course when he is in them. Great way to showcase your photos, all super ones and always enjoyable.