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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 10/09/2026

The dammed swimming area closes after labor day, so not is the best time to get shots of the lower falls. Best swimming hole in your area? More Robert Treman photos and visitor info: nyfalls.com/waterfalls/robert-treman-state-park/

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Robert H. Treman State Park (Ithaca, NY) and Lucifer Falls

A waterfall guide to Robert H. Treman State Park in Ithaca, NY, featuring trail maps, photos, videos, historical information, photography tips and fun facts

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 10/09/2026

Swimming area at Robert H. Treman State Park. It is part swimming hole, part old-school park pool, and part waterfall stop. Definitely one of the more memorable summer spots in the Finger Lakes.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 06/09/2026

Dunkirk Lighthouse at Point Gratiot on Lake Erie. This year marks 200 years since the light station was established here in 1826. The current lighthouse and keeper’s residence came later, in 1875–76, replacing the original tower after erosion threatened the bluff.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 06/09/2026

The trail, the falling water, the narrow walls, and the layers of rock all pull your eye forward through the scene, instead of just up toward the falls. Sometimes changing direction is all it takes to see a familiar place in a new way.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 06/09/2026

Rainbow Falls at Watkins Glen State Park. Most people photograph this section looking up the gorge, and for good reason — it is one of the classic Watkins Glen views. But next time you visit, try starting at the top and looking downstream instead. It gives the gorge a completely different feel.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 04/09/2026

Where’s your favorite place around Rochester to watch the sun go down? More Lake Ontario places to catch a sunset nyfalls.com/lakes/ontario/

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Lake Ontario Parks and Beaches in New York State

A map and index of all the public parks and beaches along New York's Lake Ontario Shoreline.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 04/09/2026

Charlotte Pier at Ontario Beach Park in Rochester. Some sunsets make the whole lake feel quiet, even when there are people all around. I love this kind of scene: a couple silhouettes, the sun dropping into Lake Ontario, and that big orange sky doing all the work.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 12/08/2026

Daniel Penfield built his first mill nearby in 1800, and over time this section of Irondequoit Creek powered sawmills, gristmills, triphammers, tanneries, and other local businesses. Most of that is gone now, but the old ruins and foundations still give the park a little hidden history.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 12/08/2026

Today, Channing H. Philbrick Park feels like a quiet wooded escape, but this stretch of creek was once a busy mill area. The creek drops about 90 feet in a mile here, making it ideal for early water-powered industry.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 12/08/2026

“Sgoh-sa-is-thah” — roughly, “smashing water against rock.” You understand why the Iroquois gave this section of Irondequoit Creek that name when you visit and listen for the low rumble of the water drumming over the rocks.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 05/08/2026

Much later, after the glaciers retreated, Glen Creek cut down through those older layers and carved the narrow gorge. So this view shows two timelines at once: Devonian sea floor from roughly 390 million years ago, and a much younger gorge carved by water, ice, and erosion.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 05/08/2026

This was a marine world filled with creatures like brachiopods, trilobites, crinoids, corals, bryozoans, shellfish, squid-like cephalopods, and early fish. Over time, mud, silt, and sand settled on the sea floor and hardened into the shale and sandstone we see in the gorge today.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 05/08/2026

Shale layers at Watkins Glen. These rock layers date back to the Devonian Period, hundreds of millions of years before dinosaurs. At the time, much of what is now New York was covered by a shallow inland sea. The animals here would not have been deer, amphibians, or birds.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 04/08/2026

I have visited every year for the last several decades and I'm still, like "oh yeah, new bridge" when I see it. Do you prefer the old bridge in this view, or the new arch bridge that replaced it? More Letchworth photos and visitor info: nyfalls.com/waterfalls/letchworth/

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 04/08/2026

It is safer, stronger, and better suited for modern rail traffic, but I still miss the old industrial look of this scene. It is strange how quickly a “historic view” can become a memory.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 04/08/2026

It was built in 1875, high above the Genesee River, and became almost as recognizable as the waterfall beneath it. The bridge was eventually replaced by the new arch bridge, which opened in 2017 just south of the original span.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 04/08/2026

Upper Falls at Letchworth State Park, photographed in 2014 with the old Portageville Bridge still standing above the gorge. For generations, this steel railroad bridge was part of the classic Letchworth view.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 03/08/2026

Long before this lakefront was a place to sit and watch sailboats, Watkins Glen was also a working salt town, with wells, brine, rail connections, and industry shaping the south end of the lake. More Seneca Lake photos and visitor info: nyfalls.com/lakes/finger-lakes/seneca/

nyfalls.com

Seneca Lake - Guide to New York's Finger Lakes Region

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 03/08/2026

Clute and the Clute family, who were closely tied to the Watkins Salt Company and the industrial history of the village.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 03/08/2026

Today's the day. Plan a dinner picnic at the lake. Even if you just pick up some takeout on the way there. Seneca Lake from Clute Memorial Park in Watkins Glen. The park’s name connects back to Warren W.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 31/07/2026

So while I hope the trail is repaired and reopened as soon as it safely can be, maybe this season is also a reminder that these places are not just scenery. They are living places, and sometimes giving them a little recovery time is not the worst thing.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 31/07/2026

Walking up the creek can kick up sediment, scrape and shift the streambed, crush habitat, and introduce traces of sunscreen, bug spray, lotions, and other residues into the water.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 31/07/2026

As tempting and refreshing as that may be, the creek is home to small life we often do not notice: dragonfly larvae, salamanders, aquatic insects, fish, plants, and all the tiny pieces of a living stream ecosystem. Maybe Stony Brook needs a break?

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 31/07/2026

The glen gets a lot of pressure from visitors who go off trail or walk directly in the stream.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 31/07/2026

Stony Brook State Park The Gorge Trail at Stony Brook State Park is currently closed after flood damage took out portions of the trail, and repairs will take time. It is disappointing, especially because this is one of the most beautiful gorge walks in New York, but there may be a silver lining.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 31/07/2026

It raises an interesting question: should the state step in to preserve old private amusement parks like this, or should parks like Midway add bigger new attractions to keep attendance up? More Chautauqua Lake places: nyfalls.com/lakes/chautauqua-lake/

nyfalls.com

Chautauqua Lake - Beaches & Parks Guide

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 31/07/2026

Today it is a great place to spend a day with little kids: rides, an arcade, picnic areas, shelters, grills, a snack bar, lake views, and enough to do without the scale or stress of a huge theme park.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 31/07/2026

Over time it became a classic small amusement park, with kiddie rides, games, skating, food, and summer memories along Chautauqua Lake. New York State purchased the park in 2007, helping preserve it as a family-focused state park instead of letting another old amusement park fade away.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 31/07/2026

More for the Chautauqua Lake fans: Midway State Park. Midway began in 1898 as a trolley park, one of those old lakeside amusement areas built to give people a reason to ride the trolley out for the day.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 30/07/2026

There is a larger waterfall upstream, but that one is on private property and off-limits, so this is a good reminder that part of exploring waterfalls is knowing where you can and can’t go. The accessible view of the lower falls is still beautiful and worth it.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 30/07/2026

Bucktail Falls in Spafford, NY. Hidden in plain sight in Central New York. The first time i visited i swear I drove past it 3-4 times and couldn't find it. It's only a short walk from the road.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 30/07/2026

I want something a bit more on the level with the fantastic scenery. Has anyone done a dinner cruise on the Chautauqua Belle? How was the food, and was the overall experience worth it?

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 30/07/2026

I’ve done a few dinner cruises on other lakes, and while the views are usually great, I’ve been a little disappointed lately by the meals served on some of them, especially in the Finger Lakes. Usually a hastily thrown together flavorless sandwiches and a small bag of chips.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 30/07/2026

Today it still cruises Chautauqua Lake, with trips departing from different docks around the lake depending on the schedule, which includes historical tours and dinner events. I haven’t done a dinner cruise on the Belle yet, but I’ve been curious.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 30/07/2026

The Chautauqua Belle in Mayville, NY The Belle looks like it has been traversing the lake for over a century, but was actually constructed in Mayville in the 1970s as a tribute to the old steamboat era.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 28/07/2026

I love finding places like this: small, practical, old-fashioned, and still somehow working. Have you ever taken the Bemus Point-Stow Ferry? Would you trust this to carry your car across the lake? Check out all the different sights the lake has to offer. Plan a day trip to drive around it.

nyfalls.com

Chautauqua Lake - Beaches & Parks Guide

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 28/07/2026

Today it feels less like transportation and more like a little floating piece of local history. Cars roll on, the ferry slides across the water, and for a few minutes Chautauqua Lake slows everything down.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 28/07/2026

This is so cool The Stow Ferry at Bemus Point on Chautauqua Lake. A ferry has been crossing here since 1811, carrying people between Bemus Point and Stow at one of the narrowest points on the lake. Long before the nearby bridge made the trip quick and easy, this was the way across.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 24/07/2026

If you owned land with a gorgeous waterfall, would you will it to be a public park or have your family hold onto it? More Robert Treman State Park photos and visitor info: nyfalls.com/waterfalls/robert-treman-state-park/

nyfalls.com

Robert H. Treman State Park (Ithaca, NY) and Lucifer Falls

A waterfall guide to Robert H. Treman State Park in Ithaca, NY, featuring trail maps, photos, videos, historical information, photography tips and fun facts

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 24/07/2026

Lucifer Falls is the centerpiece here, but the story behind the park is just as important: a private landscape became a public one, and generations of visitors have been able to experience Enfield Glen because of that gift.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 24/07/2026

It is easy to take places like this for granted now, but many of New York’s most beautiful gorge parks exist because people made deliberate choices to preserve them, build trails, and keep them open for everyone to enjoy.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 24/07/2026

In 1920, Robert and Laura Treman donated nearly 400 acres around Enfield Glen to New York State so it could become a public park. It was the first state park in the Ithaca area, and later renamed in Treman’s honor.

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NYFalls.com @nyfalls.com · 24/07/2026

The base of Lucifer Falls at Robert H. Treman State Park. Long before the park carried Treman’s name, this gorge was known as Enfield Glen. Robert H. Treman was an Ithaca businessman, banker, Cornell trustee, and one of the early leaders in preserving the Finger Lakes’ gorge parks.

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