Ithaca, NY

What better reason to visit the Ithaca region then a camping road trip with friends. Given it was a long weekend camp sites were hard to come across, but we managed to get a night at Newtown Battlefield State Park and the second night at Enfield Glen and Robert H Treman State Park. Day one we arrived at Ithaca and were hungry, so we soon found our way to Ithaca Saigon Kitchen. I guess, just because it’s a camping trip doesn’t mean we have to slum it. The food here was great, the pho, the vermicelli salad, everything was delicious. Full from lunch we headed out to Buttermilk Falls State Park. The carpark was pretty full already, so on busy days the spill over lot is across the stream on Sand Bank Rd. We walked the Gorge Trail until we reached W King Road, which was about 2 km (1.5 miles) round trip. Afterwards it was time for some beers from Ithaca Beer. It was very busy here too, but we managed to find a space on one of the game tables and played until a table freed up for our party. The beers here went down a treat, such as the Mo Kolsch, Happy Pils, Apricot Wheat, as well as the non-alcoholic Ginger Beer.

Afterwards it was time to check-in to our camp spot over at Newtown Battlefield. As mentioned earlier everywhere was full so when we arrived and we were the only people setting up camp this night it was a welcomed sight as we knew it would be quiet. So after setting up in the dark we got prepared for the rainy night ahead, well two tents did, the other tent took in nature and left off the fly over which resulted in a frantic, yet humorous, 2am addition.

Day two we decamped and made our way to Taughannock Falls State Park. The Falls Overlook lookout is nearby the Information Centre, it is possible to walk to the base and view the water fall from below, however that’s probably a 10 km (6 mile) round trip walk along the North rim, South Rim and, Gorge Trails. Alternatively drive over and park at the Marina area and walk to the start of Gorge Trail, which is about 3km (1.5 mile) round trip. If the weather is good it’s possible to also walk up via Taughannock Creek. The view of Cayuga Lake from the Marina area is also worth checking out while here. Afterwards we went to the Ithaca Farmers Market. The food on offer here was pretty good compared to most Farmers markets I’ve been to. Afterwards we setup camp at Enfield Glen and Robert H Treman State Park for the second night. There was more people here, but remember it was again fully booked out, I guess the rain scared people away. We did the short walk to the Lower Falls of Enfield Creek where there is a swimming area, we didn’t go any further as night was fast approaching by this point.

The next day we decamped and started making our way home, but not before stopping in at the Istanbul Turkish Kitchen in Ithaca, which had pretty good food! We had a comfort and fuel stop at Krispy Kreme at Clarks Summit. Nothing beats a fresh made donut.

May, 2018