Two of New York’s best-known state parks in one long weekend
Over Memorial Day weekend 2024 we loaded up the Sprinter and drove north to New York for two very different kinds of waterfalls: the huge, roaring falls at Niagara and the narrow, stair-stepped gorge at Watkins Glen.
🥾 A quiet start
We woke up the first morning beside a still lake with mist on the hills.
🥾 Niagara Falls State Park
Niagara Falls State Park calls itself America’s oldest state park; it was created in 1885 as the Niagara Reservation. From the U.S. side you walk right up to the edge of the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, and out to Luna Island and Goat Island between them and the Horseshoe Falls. The Maid of the Mist boats leave from the base of the Observation Tower at Prospect Point.
🥾 The Watkins Glen Gorge Trail
The next day we drove to Watkins Glen State Park at the south end of Seneca Lake. NY State Parks describes the Gorge Trail as a 1-mile stretch with 19 waterfalls, where the stream drops 400 feet in two miles past 200-foot cliffs. The path is mostly stone steps (832 is the count usually given) and runs through tunnels cut in the rock, under overhangs and right through the spray of Cavern Cascade.
We drove home through Pennsylvania and Maryland.
🥾 Trail facts
- Niagara Falls State Park: parking $10 a day ($15 Friday to Sunday in summer); walking in is free
- Falls heights: Horseshoe Falls about 188 feet, American Falls 70 to 110 feet (Niagara USA tourism)
- Watkins Glen Gorge Trail: 1 mile, 19 waterfalls, many stone steps; open mid to late May until late October (closes October 25 in 2026)
- Watkins Glen fee: $10 per vehicle, mid-May to mid-October
- Managed by: NY State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Trail facts checked October 2026. Sources: NY State Parks: Niagara Falls, NPS: Niagara Falls, Niagara USA: the three falls, NY State Parks: Watkins Glen. The 832-step count is from secondary sources. Trails and roads change, so check with the managing agency before you go.
