Ithaca Off The Beaten Path

Cass Park is located at the junction of the Inlet and Cayuga Lake. It is a large park that has a number of activities, including a walking trail along the Inlet, a number of ball fields, an indoor facility for ice skating, and a large outdoor municpal pool (actually quite nice).

Cass Park is also home to the Hangar Theatre, which shows a handful a performances in the summer months. The Hangar is an intimate setting, and often attracts popular, nationally known performances.

The Finger Lakes Region is the oldest wine-producing district in the East, offering visitors beautiful scenery, informative winery tours and tastings of some of the finest wines made today. For a taste of the Cayuga Lake Wine Region, sample the estate wineries along the Cayuga Wine Trail that starts on Route 414 in Seneca Country and works its way southward around the lake. Take a guided tour or strike out on your own. Just look for the signage around the lake!

See other entries on specific wineries.

This is a very nice winery (of course, there aren't any bad ones on Cayuga Lake).

The people are so friendly! We got to the winery about 8 minutes before they were closing up for the day, but they didn't care. They gave us the full tasting, chatted with us, let us look around.

They have a great selection of wines split fairly equally between reds and whites and they also make some desert wines, ports, and cordials. I definitely recommend trying the Cherry Avinac and the Limoncello.

The grounds are very nice; they have some picnic tables if you planned ahead and brought your own stuff, and they also have a restaurant. I've never tried it, because I usually have spnet all my money on wine (go figure!) and I try to bring my own stuff (snacking as you go keeps the tipsiness to a minimum), but the menu looks great, and the location can't be beat! Lunches run around $9; they serve pasta, burgers, crab cakes, shrimp or chicken salads, etc. Dinners are much more expensive - from about $18-$27; they have filet mignon, lamb, seafood, etc.

They are towards the northern side of the Cayuga Wine Trail; they are located between Goose Watch winery and Lakeshore. The address is: 2770 County Route 128 in Romulus.

They are open from 10am to 5:30 pm daily.

Taughonnock Falls is a beautiful area.The falls itself is 215' high, which is 33 feet taller than Niagara and is the highest vertical single drop waterfall in the Northeastern U.S. You can view the falls from the top, which has a drive up viewing area, or you can walk in from a parking area at the bottom. It is an easy, flat walk about 3/4 of a mile from the parking lot to the falls. It's easy to do with kids - I see families there all the time. There is a bridge at the base of the falls so you have a great view! There are a couple tables for eating, but most people don't stay in there. You can't swim at the base of the falls like you can at Buttermilk, bu there is a big park across from the entrance, so you can picnic and swim there.

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If you like to hike, picnic, swim, or be awed by large waterfalls, go take a look at Buttermilk.

You start at a huge waterfall with a swimming hole at the bottom. The lower park area also has a campground and playing fields. If you go past the playing fields, you'll get to Larch Meadows, a glen and wetland area with a nature trail. From the bottom of the waterfall/swimming area, you can hike up on well maintained paths that connect the lower falls with the upper falls. If you make it to the top, you get a spectacular view of the feeder lake at the top. It's worth the trip. The upper area has hiking trails through woodlands and along the gorge and rim, picnic areas and more playing fields.

At the botton, there is plenty of parking spots and picnic places - both at tables and on the grass. There is a charge to park during the summer.

This is located on Route 13 on your left if you are heading south out of town. There are big signs for it. You can't really miss it.

I love going on this wine trail! Not only are the wineries themselves good, but the road with most of the wineries (route 89) goes right up the west side of the lake, and the views are SPECTACULAR!!

There are 13 wineries listed on the Cayuga Lake WIne Trail. There are a couple more that aren't members of the CLWT. There are 9 on the west side of the lake, 1 just outside of Ithaca slightly to the east, 1 at the very north end of the lake, and 2 more on the east side of the lake about halfway up. 3 of them are new, and I'm looking forward to trying them!

These are my favorite wineries, both for the quality of the wine as well as for the friendliness and knowledge of the staff:

1) Swedish Hill (Route 414, Romulus) www.fingerlakes.net/swedishhill

2)Hosmer Winery (Route 89, Ovid) www.hosmerwinery.com

3) Lucas Vineyards (County Rd 150, Interlaken) www.lucasvineyards.com

Make sure to check out the major trail events like Mardi Gras in Februrary, Herb and Wine weekend in April and May, and Shopping Spree weekend in December.

Seneca Lake stretches between Watkins Glen and Geneva, but the whole wine trail (particularly the east side of the lake) is easily accessible from Ithaca and makes a great day trip.

The Seneca Lake Wine Trail is the largest of the 3 trails around the Finger Lakes (Cayuga - 2nd and Keuka- 3rd).

There are 25 wineries officially listed on the wine trail. There are some smaller wineries that choose not to become Trail members (don't participate in Trail-wide events, etc). They are split almost evenly between the east and west sides - with a couple in Watkins Glen. You can go around the whole lake or split time between the western side of Cayuga (where most of the Cayuga wineries are) and the east side of Seneca. Several roads link the 2 lakes, and you can get from 1 to the other in 5-15 minutes depending on where you cut across.

I've been to about 1/2 of the Seneca wineries and can't wait to try more! These have been consistently good, both for the quality of the wines and the friendliness/knowledge of the staff:
1) Fox Run (Route 14, Penn Yan, NY) www.foxrunvineyards.com
2) Glenora Wine Cellars (Route 14, Dundee, NY) www.glenora.com
3) Castel Grisch Estate Winery (Route 28, Watkins Glen). www.fingerlakes-ny.com/castelgrisch
4) Hazlitt 1852 Vinyards (Route 414, Hector, NY). www.hazlitt1852.com
5) Wagner Vineyards (Route 414, Lodi, NY) www.wagnervineyards.com

In addition to individual wineries hosting events (like jazz fests), the Trail itself hosts about 5 major events throughout the year. In January, there's a "Bargain Bash" for about 10 days. In Febrary near Valentines Day, they have a "chocolate and wine weekend". In March, it's "Pasta and Wine", in April, it's "Cheese and Wine" and for 2 weekends in November and December it's "Deck the Halls". Check the trail website for exact dates, participating wineries (it's almost always every trail member and sometimes a few more), and ticket information. These wine weekends area fabulous way to do some tastings of food and wine combos, get some receipes, etc.

This upper half of the park is more out of the way (continue on past the lower entrance) and well worth the trip. The walkway is wonderful and provides many chances for dipping your feet and sunning on the rocks. Definitely include this area when visiting Ithaca!

Route 327 off Route 13 South

The lower entrance to Robert H. Treman State Park is off route 13 (take a right onto route 372) and the upper park is three miles past the lower park entrance. There are lovely, well-kept trails which travel through forested areas and along the river. The many flat rocks next to mini-waterfalls beckon any passer-by to stop and soak her feet or just soak in the sun.

There are sanitary facilities at the park. Picnic tables and bbq stands(what are those standing bbqs called??) are also available. Parking is $6 per car for the entire day; your parking ticket will get you into any park for the rest of the day.

Make sure to leave time to explore the trails - not just the rim trail. Bring a picnic lunch and a towel or blanket. It's really gorgeous and you can usually find un-populated areas for some privacy and quiet.

The lower park has a life guarded swimming area. There is a great waterfall under which you can stand and be doused. Dogs are not allowed by the swimming area. They are allowed (leashed) in other areas.

Taughannock Falls is glorious when it's in full force, and still lovely as a trickle. Check out the travelogue of this park on the Ithaca Page.

There is camping at the park across from the Falls, and entrance is for parking. The parking fee is good for any state park all day long. Definitely stop by to see the rock face, the falls, and the pleasant and low-stress walk to the water.