Taughannock Falls State Park, NY.
Located on Cayuga Lake in New York's Finger Lakes region, Taughannock Falls State Park is a little recreation area surrounding Taughannock Falls Canyon and lakefront. Close to Ithaca and Watkins Glen, the Park has a small campground and lakeside recreation area used as much by day-users as campers. Scroll down for the gallery.
The Official NY State Parks website can be found here
General Stuff
The park itself surrounds the falls canyon and has trails along the river to the falls as well as along the canyon edges, atop the steep limestone cliffs. The day use area is a grassy park fronting Cayuga Lake, with small stony beaches and a little, sheltered boat dock. There is an observation area at the top of the falls that can be reached by car. The campground in the park is small and on the steep hillside but the sites, though, are all level, reasonably large and settled with large-grain gravel. There are 15/30 amps electrical hookups and water spigots shared between two sites, but no sewer hookups. There is a dump station with fresh water at the entrance to the campground. The bath house is small and not very well maintained but is very clean and fresh smelling. The Parks Police have an office about half a mile up the hill and patrol the campground regularly. Ithaca is only a few minutes away and can provide all the amenities of a mid-sized University town (Cornell is in Ithaca), including grocery stores and restaurants. Watkins Glen is about 30 minutes drive to the west where there is another State Park with camping facilities and (of course) the International Raceway.
Opinion
We arrived very late at night and couldn't find the campground in the dark, which is how the Police office came in useful. Once set up and having had some sleep, we were pleasantly surprised with the campground. The sites were level and made of compacted gravel, and they were reasonably large, too. We didn't hook up to the water spigot, although we could have with the use of a splitter. The bath house was a little tired looking and hadn't been very well maintained but it was very clean and smelled really fresh. We took a walk along the top trail to the falls, which was spectacular, and then along the canyon falls, which was great as well. The day-use area was really nice and, as the weather was really good for mid-May, was quite busy with people picnicking and fishing. We chose to go into Ithaca, which is a lovely town, and to Watkins Glen State Park where our Taughannock Falls pass allowed us entry to the Glen at no extra charge. We really enjoyed staying at this State Park as the Finger Lakes region is fantastic. Sadly our last visit was May 2011.
The Official NY State Parks website can be found here
General Stuff
The park itself surrounds the falls canyon and has trails along the river to the falls as well as along the canyon edges, atop the steep limestone cliffs. The day use area is a grassy park fronting Cayuga Lake, with small stony beaches and a little, sheltered boat dock. There is an observation area at the top of the falls that can be reached by car. The campground in the park is small and on the steep hillside but the sites, though, are all level, reasonably large and settled with large-grain gravel. There are 15/30 amps electrical hookups and water spigots shared between two sites, but no sewer hookups. There is a dump station with fresh water at the entrance to the campground. The bath house is small and not very well maintained but is very clean and fresh smelling. The Parks Police have an office about half a mile up the hill and patrol the campground regularly. Ithaca is only a few minutes away and can provide all the amenities of a mid-sized University town (Cornell is in Ithaca), including grocery stores and restaurants. Watkins Glen is about 30 minutes drive to the west where there is another State Park with camping facilities and (of course) the International Raceway.
Opinion
We arrived very late at night and couldn't find the campground in the dark, which is how the Police office came in useful. Once set up and having had some sleep, we were pleasantly surprised with the campground. The sites were level and made of compacted gravel, and they were reasonably large, too. We didn't hook up to the water spigot, although we could have with the use of a splitter. The bath house was a little tired looking and hadn't been very well maintained but it was very clean and smelled really fresh. We took a walk along the top trail to the falls, which was spectacular, and then along the canyon falls, which was great as well. The day-use area was really nice and, as the weather was really good for mid-May, was quite busy with people picnicking and fishing. We chose to go into Ithaca, which is a lovely town, and to Watkins Glen State Park where our Taughannock Falls pass allowed us entry to the Glen at no extra charge. We really enjoyed staying at this State Park as the Finger Lakes region is fantastic. Sadly our last visit was May 2011.
