Upstate New York Off the Beaten Path®. A Guide to Unique Places

195 Pages·2010·5.883 MB·English

by  Susan Finch,Julie A. Hill and Associates, LLC

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO EXTRAORDINARY TRAVEL
O
F
F

Tired of the same old tourist traps? Whether you’re a visitor or a local looking for some- T
H
thing different, let this first edition of Upstate New York Off the Beaten Path show you E

the Empire State you never knew existed. Get a breathtaking view of the Hudson on B
E
the world’s longest and highest walkway bridge. Go back in time at Fort Ticonderoga A
or Old Fort Niagara. Give a toast to the Finger Lakes, one of America’s premier wine TE OFF THE BEATEN PATH®
regions. Get away from it all in the Catskills, the Adirondacks, or Allegheny State Park. N

So if you’ve “been there, done that” one too many times, get off the main road and P
A
venture Off the Beaten Path. TH UPSTATE NEW YORK
®
Praise for the Off the Beaten Path® series
“For the traveler who enjoys the special, the unusual, and the unexpected.”
U A GUIDE TO UNIQUE PLACES
—The Traveler newsletter
26 P
Plattsburgh Lake
Potsdam Champlain S
81 Raquette River 87 TA
N E W T
E
Y O R K

Oneida N
NiaBFguaalfrlfasalo WWeesstt SSReeonnceehcceaaster20 FFiinnggeerr LLaakk9ee0ss SSyyLrraaakcceuussee 20UticaSSSacccahhneeGdLnnraaeeegkaaecctttaaddyy HTudsorn eRivroy EW
390 88 Albany
90 62 219 81 90 Y
86
Binghamton O
R
44
209 K
87 84
87
202 1
S
T
44 AArrlliinnggttoonn E
Yonkers D
9 New York 495 ITIO
N
NNeewwbbuurrgghh BBeeaaccoonn 84
MMiiddddlleettoowwnn
6 Toll 202 6 OFF THE BEATEN PATH
684 Hidden away in Croton Point Park is
PPeeeekksskkiillll
CCrroottoonn--oonn--HHuuddssoonn the world’s second largest hand-hewn
87 202 structure, Croton Dam, said to contain
9
as much stone as the Great Pyramid in
Egypt. Page 10.
Susan Finch is a freelance travel and lifestyle writer living in Brooklyn, New York, with
an affinity for offbeat attractions. She is the author of Metro New York Off the Beaten
Path, Best Easy Day Hikes: Long Island, and Best Easy Day Hikes: Colu®mbus.
Cover design by Georgiana Goodwin
Cover photo of Minnewaska State Park © Shutterstock
Printed in the United States of America
US $14.95/CAN $16.95
GGPPPP TTrraavevle ils i san a inm ipmripntr ionft
® oTfh Ge lGobloeb eP Peeqquuoott PPrreessss
GGuuiillffoorrdd,, CCoonnnneectcictuictut
www.GlobePequot.com
www.GlobePequot.com
off the beaten path®
upstate new york
OBP_NY_Upstate_i-x_1-182.indd 1 3/12/10 2:59 PM
Help Us Keep This Guide Up to Date
We would love to hear from you concerning your experiences with this guide
and how you feel it could be improved and kept up to date. Please send your
comments and suggestions to:
editorial@GlobePequot .com
Thanks for your input, and happy travels!
OBP_NY_Upstate_i-x_1-182.indd 2 3/12/10 2:59 PM
Off the Beaten Path® SerieS

first edition
off the beaten path®
upstate new york
a guide to unique places
susan finch
®
OBP_NY_Upstate_i-x_1-182.indd 3 3/12/10 2:59 PM
All the information in this guidebook is subject to change. We recommend
that you call ahead to obtain current information before traveling.
Copyright © 2010 Morris Book Publishing, LLC
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or
by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in
writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot
Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.
Off the Beaten Path is a registered trademark of Morris Book Publishing, LLC.
Editor: Kevin Sirois
Project Editor: Lynn Zelem
Layout: Joanna Beyer
Text design: Linda R. Loiewski
Maps: Equator Graphics © Morris Book Publishing, LLC
LIbrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
ISBN 978-0-7627-5945-3
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
OBP_NY_Upstate_i-x_1-182.indd 4 3/12/10 2:59 PM
About the Author
Susan Finch is a freelance travel and lifestyle writer living in Brooklyn, New
York, with an affinity for offbeat attractions. She’s the author of Metro New
York Off the Beaten Path, Best Easy Day Hikes: Long Island, and Best Easy Day
Hikes: Columbus.
Acknowledgments
I want to extend my endless appreciation to my husband and travel partner,
Drew Padrutt. Without your support, friendship, patience, and stubbornness, I
would have never known just how much there is to love about New York. I
wouldn’t want to explore it with anyone else. Thanks to Katie Mantell and all
my friends who contributed their expert insight and enthusiasm to this guide, I
couldn’t have done this without you. I’d also like to thank everyone at Family
TravelForum .com for believing in me and giving me a start with something I
hold dear, travel writing. And a big thanks to Globe Pequot Press, New York
State Tourism, The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic
Preservation, and all the men and women who keep this state up and running.
OBP_NY_Upstate_i-x_1-182.indd 5 3/12/10 2:59 PM
OBP_NY_Upstate_i-x_1-182.indd 6 3/12/10 2:59 PM
Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
East of the Hudson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
The Adirondacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
The Mohawk Valley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
The Finger Lakes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
The Niagara–Allegany Region. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124
The Catskills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174
OBP_NY_Upstate_i-x_1-182.indd 7 3/12/10 2:59 PM
e
AST OFTHEUDSON hkeepsi d
E H g n
u a
Po lsI g
n
o
L
y
n
THE RONDACKS OHAWKLLEY Alba THECATSKILLS Newburgh New York City
ADI own E MVA
ert e TH
at us
W c
a
yr
S S a
LAKE Ithac
R
E
G
er N
hest E FI
c H
Ro T
k
r
o
ew y Buffalo THENIAGARA-ALLEGANYREGION
n

e
t
a
t
s
p
u
OBP_NY_Upstate_i-x_1-182.indd 8 3/12/10 2:59 PM
Introduction
In 1784 George Washington declared New York as the “Seat of the Empire,”
and centuries later we still call it “the Empire State.” Yet up until the 1780s,
most of New York was an encroaching frontier country, with the exception of
the Dutch settlements at New Amsterdam and in the Hudson Valley. Most of
the state was settled not just by new arrivals from Europe, but also by migrat-
ing New Englanders, setting the pattern for the next hundred years of west-
ward expansion—and making New York a transitional place between “old”
coastal America and the horizons of the West.
More than that, New York became a staging area for the people, ideas,
and physical changes that would transform the United States in the nineteenth
century. Its geographic position between the harbors of the Atlantic Coast and
the Great Lakes ensured an early leadership position in the development of
canals and, later, of railroads. New York’s vast resources made it a powerhouse
of industrial power, while its size and the fertility of its soil guaranteed its
importance as an agricultural state.
As growth came early in New York, westward expansion created an
infrastructure of small towns connected by back roads, rivers, and canals. The
coming of the railroads in the nineteenth century gave rise to great cities.
Fast Facts
•. With.an.area.of.54,471.square.miles,.New.York.ranks.twenty-seventh.in.size.
among.the.fifty.states .
•. With.over.nineteen.million.residents,.it.ranks.third.in.population .
•. The.state.has.four.mountain.ranges:.Adirondack,.Catskill,.Shawangunk,.and.
Taconic .
•. New.York.has.70,000.miles.of.rivers.and.streams,.127.miles.of.Atlantic.Ocean.
coastline,.and,.including.lake,.bay,.and.oceanfront,.9,767.miles.of.shoreline .
•. The.state.flower.is.the.rose .
•. The.state.bird.is.the.eastern.bluebird .
•. The.state.freshwater.fish.is.the.brook.trout;.the.saltwater.fish.is.the.striped.bass .
•. The.state.tree.is.the.sugar.maple .
•. The.state.motto.is.“Excelsior,”.and.the.state.song.is,.of.course,.“I.Love.New.
York .”
OBP_NY_Upstate_i-x_1-182.indd 9 3/12/10 2:59 PM