Woodwater Farmhouse

Our big vacation every year is to the Finger Lakes region of New York. Sure there's wine...water...boats and more...BUT we spend our 6 days hiking, eating, camping, eating more and going to the NASCAR race each year.  We are getting faster with three miles round trip hike up and then down this beautiful gorge. I wanted to offer some tips for hiking the gorge...maybe some of you might be going there someday...after all it's ranked number 3 in the nation for beautiful state parks  and for great reason.  The trails, waterfalls and too many to count photo opps, brings our family back every year.   My TOP 5 Tips for family hiking/visit  to Watkins Glen State Park - Gorge 1.   Wear comfie shoes but ones that can get wet.  Although you don't get "soaked" there are parts of the trails that get wet from continuous waterfalls. 2.   No dogs allowed (booo).  They don't allow you to leave your dog in the vehicle e...

We recently took a trip to the Fingers Lakes Region of New York. About 3 hours from us.  It's our new tradition to camp up there during the August NASCAR race. Hiking at the Watkins Glen State Park is a MUST when you go there.  We hiked about 4 miles around the park, staying on the trails.  The landscape is breathtaking.  The children loved every step of the hike and stopping at little rest stops along the paths, made it easy.  If you remember on our last hike , I was photographing all the mushrooms I found. This hike I was all about the wild flowers.  Map reading, checking out the fresh mountain water and learning every step of the way! So many waterfalls in this park, I lost track.   At the end of the trail (just about 2 miles in) there is a playground and bathrooms. (no bathrooms along the way)  Nice area to stop and snack, take a break before the hike back!  We found this beautiful web...

We recently took a 5 day trip to the Fingers Lakes Region in Upstate New York.  Known for their winerys, the Finger Lake Region is a gem of a place to take the family. I have been to this region of NY plenty of times and it never gets old. The scenery is just breath taking.  This trip our main focus was  the Nationwide and Sprint NASCAR Races (more to come on this experience) .  We did have time to take a detour and visit the Watkins Glen State Park .  This park is something to behold.  God's beauty at it's best!  It's only $ 8 per car load to enter and well worth every penny.  We only did a fraction of the hiking trails due to time and level of hiking knowledge (kids mostly).   The morning of - it rained cats and dogs all morning...so a lot of the trails were puddle ridden.  Humidity was 100% (hair is not looking good...lol)   but we had a great family hike!  There are SO many waterfalls at this park. The kids and hubby...