Horseheads NY

I am heading to Horseheads NY for thanksgiving and was wondering if anyone could suggest some hikes in the area. I am not very familar with the area (other than that with a township named Big Flats - a peak may be hard to come by). I have heard Watkins Glen is pretty -but that the hike is more "tourist" like, than back country. Would love to hear from the group with suggestions. Thanks much, and Happy Thanksgiving.
Steve

medic108 said:

I am heading to Horseheads NY for thanksgiving and was wondering if anyone could suggest some hikes in the area. I am not very familar with the area (other than that with a township named Big Flats - a peak may be hard to come by). I have heard Watkins Glen is pretty -but that the hike is more "tourist" like, than back country. Would love to hear from the group with suggestions. Thanks much, and Happy Thanksgiving.
Steve

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Watkins Glen may be closed by now, but you can still park there and walk around SOME of the trails, and peek down into the gorge. I went this time of year and while not fully satisfying to not be able to use all the (paved!) trails, it was worth the trip.

Watkins Glen is great and highly recommended. 20 years ago they locked the gate in winter but we could get in and explore. There are several other falls and gorges in the area. It's a hilly and beautiful area especially by the lakes. You'll find plenty to do, just wear your orange and watch out for hunters.

Ahh, my old home

If you do Watkins Glen (great stuff), you may also want to take in nearby Havana Glen, which is just south of Watkins: http://nyfalls.com/havanaglen.html. What I don't know is whether you can get through there off season. Do wear orange, though!

As an alternative, I really like hiking the trail above the main park/waterfalls in Robert Treman State Park, just south of Ithaca: http://nyfalls.com/treman.html

Have fun!

Marty

There is a gorge trail that goes right through Ithaca. Kinda short but very cool and no hunters. When you come out of the top there is a pizza place on the corner.

Thanks much. I will give these options a shot on Friday.

The Finger Lakes trail might be a good option.

http://www.fltconference.org/trails/hike-the-trail/about-the-trail/

Wow, I didn't realize Watkins Glen had trails and gorges. I remember (mostly) going there in college to watch people like Mario Andretti in the US Grand Prix and have a few brews.

Kevin Rooney said:

Wow, I didn't realize Watkins Glen had trails and gorges. I remember (mostly) going there in college to watch people like Mario Andretti in the US Grand Prix and have a few brews.

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This is off topic, but Watkins Glen also had a "Summer Jam" rock concert at the race track, back in 1973. It was claimed that they had 600,000 attendees, which was more than Woodstock. The bands that played were The Band, The Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers. There were lots of colorful photos in our local papers of the traffic jams and the hippies frolicking in the gorge.

I tried to go, but my Mom wouldn't let me.

Regards,
Marty

What Marty said -- Buttermilk Falls and Taughanic Falls are worth a look see.

(another Ithaca Native here...)

I was out on Elmira this summer because my dad grew up there...its just a couple miles from Horseheads. While there isn't a lot of great hiking out there, there is definitely stuff to do, if you are creative enough. Within a 20-30 min drive you can head up and check out the FInger Lakes Natl Forest. I took a hike up there with my friend on one of the hottest days of the year last July.

http://grouseking.smugmug.com/New-York/2010/Finger-Lakes-Natl-Forest/12873717_3qhsA#929322545_2HzYK
The section I hiked looked a ittle like this.



I second Watkins Glen, but yeah, its prob closed. The waterfalls there are awesome, and you can make at least a 3 mile loop hike out of it.

Also, if you get a chance, take the drive up to Harris Hill, where the natl soaring museum is. You can take in awesome sunsets there.


A short drive from Harris Hill is the Tanglewood Nature Center. I have never been there, but you can make some somewhat lengthy hikes out of it.

http://www.tanglewoodnaturecenter.com/
http://www.tanglewoodnaturecenter.com/twnews/gleason-map.pdf
http://www.tanglewoodnaturecenter.com/images/personius-woods.gif

And finally, there is a new rail trail along Catherine Creek, called the Catherine Valley Trail. It goes from Seneca Lake, all the way down to the northern part of Horseheads near the Mark Twain GOlf Course.. I'm not sure if it is all connected yet, but that is prob the easiest trail opportunity.
http://www.catharinevalleytrail.org/

Hope that helps!!!

medic108 said:

I am heading to Horseheads NY for thanksgiving and was wondering if anyone could suggest some hikes in the area. I am not very familar with the area (other than that with a township named Big Flats - a peak may be hard to come by). I have heard Watkins Glen is pretty -but that the hike is more "tourist" like, than back country. Would love to hear from the group with suggestions. Thanks much, and Happy Thanksgiving.
Steve

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The region surrounding Wellsboro, PA (~1 hour from Horseheads) is considered the "Pennsylvania Wilds", there are hills and valleys that seemed pretty awesome for hiking (we had done some mountain biking in the area but were mostly there to watch a car race). There is also the "grand canyon" of PA in the area. It is all state forest that is actively used for hunting so I would consider blaze orange to be mandatory.

Here is a good site for hiking in the Finger Lakes area http://www.cnyhiking.com/
As for PA if you are looking for an Adirondack connection Wellsboro is the final resting place of George W. Sears better known as Nessmuck. The Pine Creek Gorge is worth exploring as was mentioned above it is call the “Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Creek_Gorge
Pine Creek Outfitters are a great resource for all outdoor activities in the area. http://www.pinecrk.com/

WBB said:

Here is a good site for hiking in the Finger Lakes area http://www.cnyhiking.com/
As for PA if you are looking for an Adirondack connection Wellsboro is the final resting place of George W. Sears better known as Nessmuck. The Pine Creek Gorge is worth exploring as was mentioned above it is call the “Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Creek_Gorge
Pine Creek Outfitters are a great resource for all outdoor activities in the area. http://www.pinecrk.com/

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Agreed, Grand Canyon of PA is pretty special,as is anywhere in the Allegheny's for that matter (although a bit farther southeast).

Lots of good stuff in the Western Tier, have a great time.

Hike Complete

Thanks to all - excellent ideas. We seriously considered the Watkins Glen hike, as well as heading to the Grand Canyon of PA. Weather was poor on Friday AM early - and we deliberated long enough to make a venture to Grand Canyon from Horseheads too time consuming - figuring we would not have sufficient time to hike before dark. Watkins Glen trail to gorge was closed, and my hiking partner (brother in law) was worried about consequences for sneaking in.

In the end, we ended up covering a nice portion of the Finger Lakes Trail branch through the West Hill State Forest and beyond. All told we covered about 4.5 miles round trip. Encountered a few hunters, but otherwise a nice relatively easy hike.

Thanks again to all.

I wish I would have seen this sooner. I live in PA just over the border from HH. I would have recommended the PA Grand Canyon and I could have been your tour guide