On Wednesday July 28th we hooked up and drove to Watkins Glen. We had been there BC (before Children) but didn’t really remember. At  that time they had a night light program in the gorge but they no longer do that. Upon arrival after setting up we drove into and walked in town. We parked on the street next to the State Park parking lot and walked North on what is the Catherine Valley  Rail Trail. the tracks are no longer there and the trail is the side walk ending at the Seneca Lakefront
Catharine Valley Trail, Watkins Glen city streetsSeneca Lake, NY lake front Watkins Glen

The next day there was a threat of rain and we didn't want to get caught on the gorge trail in the rain so we drove to the nearby town of Montour Falls to walk on a different part of the Catherine Valley Rail Trail.
In Montour Falls the trial uses the side walk along Canal Street and passes the falls for which the town is named..

Montour FallsMontour Falls

We continued  to walk South on Canal Street to the end of town and then turned around and walked North towards Watkins Glen on a more wooded part of the trail. Unfortunately we didn't get very far when it started to rain so we went back to the truck and drove to CVS and Topps Grocery before returning to the campground

Catherine Valley Rail Trail signCatherine Valley Rail Trail



The next day we went to Watkins Glen State Park. We walked the one and a half mile Gorge trail gaining 600 ft elevation and traversing 800 steps along the way. one would have thought we would have remembered something this beautiful but we didn't

Watkins Glen Gorge TrailWatkins Glen gorge trail

Watkins Glen State Park Gorge trailWatkins Glen State Park Gorge Trail

 While returning to the base of the gorge  I got a call from our granddaughter a Wilderness EMT.  I told her where we were and sent her a photo of her grandmother returning to the bottom of the gorge on the South Rim trail which occasionally goes up  as it did here before  continuing down to the bottom of the gorge.


Debby on the trailview from the South Rim Trail Watkins Glen SP


On July 31st we drove about 20 miles to Elmira, NY.'s Eldridge Park which has a still functioning 1890's amusement park and  the Lakawanna Rail Trail.  A pharmacist Dr. Edwin Eldrige originally bought the land and which included a large lake and built a sculpture garden . Upon his death the city bought the property in 1889.  In 1924 Robert A Long bought an Atlantic City carousel which he moved to Eldridge Park. Long's family operated the Carousel  until 1988 when they sold it to the city. Since it wasn't functioning the City sold everything except the mechanism. Over the years the City added other amusement park rides. In In the early 2000' the Carousel Preservation Society was formed and the restored carousel was opened on May 26 , 2006.

Carouselother rides

We walked for awhile  on the Lakawanna Trail however at one point it was on the sidewalk and we quickly lost it. Returning to the park we walked around the lake and returned to the truck for a total of about 3 and a half miles.

Lakwanna Rail TrailErie Rail Car
Some of you might be surprised by the Erie Railcar on the Lackawanna Railline but in 1960 there was a merger of the Erie Railroad with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad known as the Erie Lackawanna. In 1976 the Erie Lakawanna assets were bought by the Federal Governement and became part of Conrail.


From Watkins Glen we drove to Johnsville NY and one of my favorite campgrounds the Johnsville Marina and Campground for a three night stay.