Our next camping spot after Fillmore Glen was Robert H Treman State park, outside the wonderful city of Ithaca New York. We had visited this State park very briefly last year while we were camping at nearby Watkins Glen (Our next stop) we were impressed by the place so decided to spend more time. The camp site we had (Site 4) and in fact almost all (Other than site 11) were some of the worst campsites we have ever stayed at. Our site was uneven, and very rocky and the fire pit was in an unusable location. Despite this we had a great time here, and are planning on coming back again for a longer visit (hopefully at site 11)

The biggest draw to this park is the swimming hole, it is reputed to be one of the top ten swimming holes in the US, and considering the hordes that descended during the weekend, I can believe it. The only way I could get any decent pictures was to get up at O dark Thirty..

Robert H. Treman State Park is an area of wild beauty, with the rugged gorge called Enfield Glen as its scenic highlight. Winding trails follow the gorge past 12 waterfalls, including the 115-foot Lucifer Falls, as Enfield Creek cascades toward the Cayuga Inlet. Considered a moderate hike due to several impressive sets of stone staircases and an elevation change of over 500 feet. We despite the heat and humidity were able to do all of the trails here including the Rim trail and the stairways from hell (We were sweating long before we got to the top of what felt like 2000 steps).

The Gorge trail and the rim trail are each about 3.6 Km long, the most spectacular is the Gorge trail, which despite warning signs to keep to the trails and out of the water provided multiple great swimming spots. Both trails also allow dogs as long as they are on leashes.

The thing that Karen and I loved so much about camping at Robert H Treman, was not just what the park offered, but that the surrounding area offers so much to anyone visiting, there are other State parks well worth visiting. Buttermilk Falls State Park and Taughannock Falls State park are both great spots with well maintained hiking trails. We spend one morning visiting a few wineries and also hiking the Taughannock falls trail, a very well maintained easy trail approx. 4 Km round trip. Unfortunately the water levels were really low so the falls were less than spectacular.

One cannot live by hiking alone, we took a well needed break from the heat and hiking, and visited a few wineries on our way from Taughannock falls. Had a great lunch at the Copper oven at the Cayuga ridge winery. The Copper Oven’s specialty is wood fired pizza, and they do not make traditional pizza…I was a little hesitant but it was delicious (I had a sort of B-B-Q chicken style masterpiece) The Winery was a great experience as well, it is one of the oldest wineries on Cayuga Lake.

We also re-visited our favourite winery in the region (we visited last year in Sept) The Thirsty Owl has some of the best wines, and also makes an amazing Cider from Fuji apples (Karen normally does not like cider, but loves this stuff) The main reason we returned was to pick up a few bottles of their “Port” style wine. The wineries on Cayuga Lake almost always allow you to bring dogs on their premises.

One of the days turned out to be overcast and threatened to rain all day, we decided to explore the City of Ithaca with rain coats in hand. Our first stop was to check out the Ithaca Children’s Garden, we had seen it as we drove to Taughannock Falls. Ithaca Children’s Garden is an award-winning 3-acre public children’s garden designed for kids, enjoyed by all, and driven by a mission to inspire the next generation of environmental stewards. It was a unique place, and well worth a visit.

We noticed a lot of bumper stickers around Ithaca that said “Ithaca is Gorges” There is no doubt about that, within the City are multiple trails and Gorges to explore….If you can find parking… We visited not only Ithaca Falls but also Hiked the beautiful Cascadilla Gorge trail, part of Cornell Universities Botanical gardens. The lower section of Cascadilla Gorge is truly a “gorges” display of rock, water and trees. Cascadilla Creek drops 400 feet from campus to downtown Ithaca, carving through bedrock – shales, siltstone and sandstone – exposing sedimentary rocks that were deposited 400 million years ago. Look for ripple marks on the rock surface, which once was the muddy floor of an ancient ocean. Here also is a tremendous variety of forest and creek habitats packed into a small area. Unfortunately the trail also consists of a huge number of steps (We need to get a step machine, to prepare for our next visit to this region)

Once we had completed the trail, we decided to end the day by driving through the wonderful Cornell University campus, and check out more of their Botanical gardens, we visited the  F.R. Newman Arboretum, The arboretum’s collections—including nut trees, crabapples, oaks, maples, shrubs, and urban trees—comprise a 100-acre pastoral setting. Specialty gardens in the arboretum include the Zucker Shrub Collection and the Treman Woodland Walk. Another great place to visit, we only covered a small part of the gardens (leaving ourselves something to see next time we visit)

Noticed this little Winery on way back to Campsite (It had been recommended to us from a Winery near our last campsite) I thought it was a wine store that happened to sell a lot of port…I was wrong it is a quaint little winery that was a lot of fun. Unfortunately their Port was not to my liking.

Our four days at Robert H Treman State park came to an end, and we are off next to Watkins Glen State Park. This region is a beautiful place to visit, both Karen and I will return again for a longer stay.