Watkins Glen State Park
Trail Map

UPPER ENTRANCE
3310 Route 409
Watkins Glen, NY 14891[elevation 1,002ft / 305m]

SENECA
LAKE409414
4th Street

KEYParking
Restroom
Accessible
Restroom
Picnic Area
Gift Shop

Act i ve R a i l r oa d L i n e

To Hidden Valley Group
Camp: Turn left on
White’s Hollow Rd.

No alcohol or pets allowed on the Gorge Trail
Lover’s Lane
Lookout

12 Jacob’s Ladder

Mile Point
BridgeVisitorCenterRentable
Shelter
Trail Shelter
Food Service
Restroomwith showers
Swimming
Pool
ScenicOverlook

Rainbow
Falls

11TRAIL LEGENDNorth Rim Trail
Gorge Trail

1.1 mi / 1.8km

South Rim Trail
Lover’s Lane

1.8 mi / 2.9km

1.5 mi / 2.4km
0.3 mi / 0.5km

Paved Roads
The Finger Lakes Trail is called the SouthRim Trail in the park. It is blazed with white
rectangles and connects the Catskills toAllegany State Park!

Suggested Hikes

With 19 waterfalls, there is no wrong way toexplore the natural beauty of Watkins Glen. Hereare a few suggested hikes.

From South Entrance
Challenging • 3 miles
South Entrance > Couch’s Staircase > Cavern Cascade> Jacob’s Ladder to Upper Entrance > Return on North
Rim Trail > Suspension Bridge > South Entrance
Moderate • 2 miles
Couch’s Staircase > Cavern Cascade > Exit left at Mile
Point Bridge > Go left on the South Rim Trail > At fork,
stay right towards South Entrance
Easy
Suspension Bridge > Lover’s Lane > Enter Gorge Trail,
stay right towards Glen Cathedral > Enjoy as much as
you like and return the same way

PointLookout
367Glen Cathedral

10Campground

PlaygroundCentralCascade8

Frowning
Cliff

Shuttle Stopi

Downtown
Watkins Glen (Not to scale)

9Ecology path

MAIN ENTRANCE1000 N. Franklin Street

Sentry Creek path
Bridge152 Couch’s

4Cavern
Suspension CascadeBridge

RV / Bus Parking
106 S. Franklin Street
Watkins Glen, NY 14891[eleva�on 479� /146m]

Staircase

LilyPond

Trail toCampgrounds

SouthPavillion

HIKE THE GORGE TRAIL SAFELY!

This iconic trail can be accessed at sites marked on thismap by filled in circles: 1 , 2 , 3 , 6 , 11 , and 12 .
• NO DOGS OR ALCOHOL ALLOWED on this trail.
• STAY ON DESIGNATED TRAILS. Serious accidents and fatalities
NO LITTERING.
• NO SWIMMING OR ENTERING THE GORGE--$250 fine per person.
• CLOSED IN WINTER (early Nov - mid May) for falling rock.

Road to Camp• WEAR PROPER FOOTWEAR AND DO NOT PICK WILDFLOWERS.

From Main Entrance
Challenging • 3 miles
Enter Gorge Trail > Jacob’s Ladder > Upper Entrance >Noth Rim Trail > Suspension Bridge > Left to SouthRim Trail > Couch’s Staircase > Main Entrance
Moderate • 2 miles
Enter Gorge Trail > Glen Cathedral > Turn back andexit gorge at Lover’s Lane > Suspension Bridge > Point
Lookout > Gorge Trail > Left to Main Entrance
From Upper Entrance
Challenging • 3 miles
Jacob’s Ladder to Gorge Trail > Exit up Couch’s Staircase > Turn right on South Rim Trail > Suspension
Bridge > Left on North Rim Trail > Upper Entrance
Moderate • 2 miles
Jacob’s Ladder to Gorge Trail > Exit up stairs at Lover’s
Lane > Left onto North Rim Trail > Upper Entrance

329

Campgrounds

Features of the Gorge Trail

Park

14419
SOUTH ENTRANCE
3528 Route 419
Watkins Glen, NY 14891

17

Learn more about the landmarks labeled on the map above. Look for interpretive panels along the way that reveal more about thenatural history around you. 1 SENTRY BRIDGE Look for a round flume hole in the rock where water was once diverted to power amill in the 1800’s where the visitor center now stands. 2 COUCH’S STAIRCASE 120 stairs covered in shade-loving ferns.
3 POINT LOOKOUT Gaze down into the sculpted rocks of the gorge. 4 CAVERN CASCADE Walk behind this waterfall in anarrow space where water has undercut the layer of sandstone by eroding away crumbly shale beneath. Travel through the Spiral
Tunnel, handcut in 1927. 5 SUSPENSION BRIDGE Built in 1870, this bridge stands 85 feet above the creek and connects the RimTrails. The dining room of the Glen Mountain House, a private resort, peered over the gorge next to the bridge before burning
down in 1903. 6 LOVER’S LANE LOOKOUT This poured concrete lookout is all that remains of the old trail that was destroyed by
the flood of 1935. Look carefully in the steps to see the year stamped in which it was created. 7 GLEN CATHEDRAL Notice thehorizontal layers of sandstone and shale formed 380 million years ago! Look down and observe the ripples in the rock you standupon. They were created by wave action on the bottom of an ancient seafloor that eventually turned to stone. 8 CENTRALCASCADE Plunging more than 60 feet, this is the highest waterfall in the gorge. 9 RAINBOW FALLS On a sunny afternoon, thelight strikes this waterfall creating a symphony of color. Notice the series of small, smooth, rounded plunge pools. These show us
10 FROWNING CLIFF This narrow part ofwhere waterfalls once were, and how the creek has changed the landscape over time.
the gorge receives so little sunlight, that few plants grow here and ice remains on the trail through late spring. 11 MILE POINT
BRIDGE This structure, like the rest of the Gorge Trail, is part of the stone masonry constructed by the Civillian Conservation Corps
after the flood of 1935. 12 JACOB’S LADDER Ascend 180 stairs to the Upper Entrance.