October 17, 2026
Watkins Glen: 19 Waterfalls in a Single Mile (Go Before It Closes)
Watkins Glen is one of those places where the brochure photo looks too good to be real and then you get there and it is exactly that good, which almost never happens. The Gorge Trail runs about a mile and packs 19 waterfalls into it — you walk behind one, under another, through a tunnel of stone — and the whole thing descends 400 feet past cliffs that rise 200 feet on either side. You will take the same photo eight times and not care.
Getting There (and the Honest Catch)
About 4 hours from Bergen County. This is the far end of a Finger Lakes loop — take I-80/I-86 west toward the lakes and drop south on Route 14 to 1009 N Franklin Street, Watkins Glen. The Gorge Trail is seasonal, and this year it closes for winter on October 25 (weather can pull that earlier), so if you are reading this in late October, go now or check the state park site first. If the gorge is closed, the rim trails stay open and the nearby Taughannock Falls — the tallest single-drop waterfall east of the Rockies — is still worth the trip, which is the polite way of saying the backup plan is also a waterfall.
What to Explore
The gorge has a lot of stone steps, which is why the universal advice is to get there before the crowds and do it top-down. Arrive by 8 a.m. and you will have the place nearly to yourself; roll in at noon on a weekend and you will be in a conga line of people with selfie sticks, all of you trying to photograph the same waterfall. The $10 parking fee is a rounding error for what you get.
Pair it with a winery stop on Seneca Lake and make a weekend of it. A comfortable car is non-negotiable for four hours of Thruway, and the drive along the lake in fall is the kind of thing that makes you slow down on purpose.
Rent Direct With Frosty Flame — Skip the Fees, Keep the Perks
Book through a marketplace and you pay a middleman on top of your rental. Book direct with us and the money stays where it should:
No marketplace fees — you pay the rate, not a platform surcharge.
Contactless pickup & drop-off in Bergen County, with delivery across North Jersey.
EZ Pass pre-loaded so tolls are handled before you reach the booth.
Custom protection plans built for your trip, not a one-size-fits-all add-on.
Curated in-ride playlists (Volumes 1–4) so the drive is part of the experience.
A real local host — Bergen County based, reachable, and obsessive about a clean, ready-to-go ride.
Book Direct With Us
Written by Frankie
Frankie is Chief Editor & Marketing Director for Frosty Flame Vehicle Rentals.
#nyc #newjersey #nj #VisitNJ #ExploreNJ #NJSpots #ILoveNY #UpstateNY #ExploreNY
Permalink: frostyflame.llc/blog/watkins-glen-gorge-trail.html