Niagara, Finger Lakes and Adirondacks

Route description

From Buffalo, it is a short drive to Niagara Falls State Park, where the American, Bridal Veil and Horseshoe Falls thunder over the border with Canada. Walkways lead onto Goat Island and down to the Cave of the Winds decks, where you get soaked beside the falls, and the boat tours sail into the mist below. Bring your passport if you want to cross the Rainbow Bridge to the Canadian side.

Head east and southeast to the Finger Lakes, long narrow lakes carved by glaciers. NY-14 runs along the west side of Seneca Lake, past vineyards and wineries, to Watkins Glen at the southern end of the lake. The Gorge Trail in Watkins Glen State Park climbs past nineteen waterfalls on stone stairs and is usually open from May to October.

NY-79 leads east to Ithaca, a college town at the southern end of Cayuga Lake, with waterfalls right in town and Taughannock Falls to the north. From there, a long drive northeast leads into the Adirondacks, a vast area of forests, lakes and mountains. Lake Placid, host of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics, still has its ski jumps and the Olympic arena.

The Whiteface Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway climbs close to the summit near Lake Placid in summer and fall. Distances in the Adirondacks are long and services are few, so plan fuel stops. The Niagara parking lots fill up on summer weekends, and fall color in October makes this a busy season.