Taughannock Falls State Park

Taughannock Falls State Park is located just outside of Ithaca, in the Finger Lake region of New York State.

The Finger Lake region is a recreation area that is known for its wineries, scenic gorges, an extensive network of hiking trails, as well as fishing and boating activities.

Taughannock Falls State Park is only one of several state parks within a 20-mile radius that one can visit. It is on Cayuga Lake.

Site Review:

Taughannock Falls State Park is a small campground with 19 electric sites and 55 non-electric sites. We had site #78. This site was probably the largest in the park. The site beside it (#76) was also large. Though site #74 (the one where the pop-up is in the picture below) was fairly small. When researching for this trip, I read several reviews that commented on how tight and crammed the sites at Taughannock Falls State Park were to each other. After visiting, I can say from firsthand experience, that some sites are definitely like that. However, some other sites have generous spacing between them. What I can say about EVERY site is that there is a lot of unevenness and varying degrees of pad slope- no site is level.

While I would say that site #78 is probably the best electric site in terms of size and relative privacy, it should be noted that it is right across from the sanitation dump station.

I would normally never advocate a site across from the dump station, but we visited in May and this was not an issue in terms of traffic or odour. Choices are definitely limited here for larger rigs who also want electricity.

Activities:

Hiking:

Taughannock Falls is a 215-foot vertical waterfall at the end of a wide wooded ¾ mile (1.2 km) gorge and is the main attraction. The falls can be appreciated via 3 main hiking trails:

• Gorge Trail
• North Rim Trail
• South Rim Trail.

The North Rim Trail is directly accessible from the campground

and connects to the South Rim Trail where it crosses the bridge near the Upper Falls. The connected trails form a loop around the top of the gorge and afford various views of the falls.

This is pretty easy hiking, there are some steep stairs to ascend and descend at the beginning and the end of the trail, but besides that, it’s pretty flat with only a few incline and decline sections.

The Gorge Trail is easy. It is wide and flat. It is no problem for strollers and even wheelchairs.

It’s about ¾ of a mile in length and takes you right up to the base of the falls. This trail is by far the most popular and the busiest. In the summer, according to the park staff, it gets over 4000 visitors a day!

The Day Use area

This area is large with lots of picnic tables and grills and a very nice children’s play area. There is a beach area suitable for swimming. There is a fishing pier and you can rent kayaks and canoes for use on Cayuga Lake.

Fishing:

There is a boat launch as well as a small marina located in the Day Use section of the park. I talked to our camping neighbour (who brought their own boat to go fishing) and he assured me that there was no problem catching your daily per-person limit of “Lakers”.

Wine Tours:

This area of New York is wine country and there is no shortage of tours you can take of vineyards etc. Pamphlets and brochures with information can be obtained at the park office when you check-in.

Waterfalls and Gorges:

The Finger Lakes area is known for its gorges and waterfalls. Within about a 20-mile radius of Taughannock Falls State Park, there is also Robert H. Treman State Park  (about 14 miles away), Buttermilk Falls State Park (about 12 miles away) and Watkins Glen State Park.

Since the camping pass for Taughannock State Park allows you access to all of the State Parks we decided to make a little tour of some of the other parks. We went to Robert H. Treman State Park and to Buttermilk Falls State Park.

Robert H. Treman State Park

You can access the Lower Falls using a short path from the parking area. During the peak season, they dam the creek so the water fills the area and you can swim right at the base of the falls. This is a popular spot in the summer. 

We took a walk through the campground and it was underwhelming. There are only 11 electric sites with site #11 being the best one. The majority of the other sites are in a field.

We drove to the second parking area near the Old Mill rather than hiking the 2 miles there and then back. We accessed the trail heading to Lucifer Falls. It should be noted that there is a 200+ step cliff staircase.

If you would rather walk down those steps instead of up them, then take the advice that the Park Ranger gave us when I was asking about the trail- take the Rim Trail to the falls and then take the Gorge Trail back. That will mean that you have to do some uphill hiking right at the beginning, but it’s nothing compared to those steps! Also, the best view of Lucifer Falls is from the side where the Rim Trail.

Buttermilk Falls State Park

There wasn’t much impressive about what we saw at this park. We saw the Buttermilk Falls (which you can see from the road). We walked some of the Gorge Trail. There were quite a few stair sections.

Things to Know:

1. Of the three parks we visited, Taughannock Falls State Park offered the most activities beyond hiking, though it should be noted that the beach is located a fair distance away and across a busy road. It is walkable but I expect most people would choose to drive.
2. Taughannock State Park straddles NYS Route 89. The campground and the hiking trails are to the west (or in other words; NOT on the same side as the lake) The park office, the boat launch and the Day Use area are to the east (ARE on the same side as the lake).
3. This is important to note because you first have to go to the park office to check in. This area is not well signed. Enter the Day Use Area, the park office is immediately on the left.
4. If you want wood get it while at the office, they don’t sell it at the campground.
5. The college town of Ithaca New York (Cornell University is located there) is just down the road about 20 minutes away.

IMO

I like the Finger Lakes area. It is scenic and there is lots to do. While I had come prepared to be a bit disappointed by the campground, I was instead pleasantly surprised and relieved that the previous reviews I had read were not entirely true.

I would camp at Taughannock Falls State Park again and would recommend this as an RV Place to Go.