Three Water-Filled Wonders of New York Finger Lakes

by Katie Barnhill

As a bike tour guide, anytime you get sent out to lead a bike trip, it’s exciting. It’s why we do this job- to travel; to explore new parts of the world and forge deep connections with our adventure crew and the communities we roll through. We often ask ourselves, “We get paid to do this?”

And then, there comes the opportunity to guide a bike trip right in your own backyard. And man, does that hit differently. You’re not just showing people a place- you’re sharing a piece of yourself. The back roads you know so well that you feel you discovered them, the bakery that knows your order by heart, and the hidden sunset viewing spots that even the locals don’t know. Suddenly, you are the host, and all the stories and connections you have to the land burst with new energy and excitement to be shared.

For me, the backyard I speak of, as an Ithaca, New York resident, is when I get to guide the Finger Lakes Bike Tour. I’ve been living in Upstate New York for about five years now, and before becoming a bike tour guide for Wilderness Voyageurs, I was working as a crew member and interpretive guide on a boat providing eco-tourism programs on Cayuga Lake, the second largest of the Finger Lakes. As I stooped deeper into the natural and human history of the region, preparing interpretive information for my cruises, I fell deeper in love with the Finger Lakes and the splendor of cultural and ecological wonder this little corner of the world possesses. 

Now, as a former Finger Lakes boat guide turned bike guide, and someone who lives, eats, and plays in Upstate’s geological playground, I’ve come to discover the true pulse of the Finger Lakes: Water. 

Here are 3 Water-Filled Wonders of the Finger Lakes and how Wilderness Voyageurs Finger Lakes Bike Tour brings this essential ingredient to life.

Waterfalls, Waterfalls, Waterfalls

There’s a funny little saying around Ithaca that is often seen printed on t-shirts and bumper stickers. They say, “Ithaca is Gorges,” and when you say it out loud it sounds like “Ithaca is gorgeous.” Because it is both- a stunningly beautiful little Upstate town and a geological place surrounded by gorges. Ithaca, which sits on the southern tip of Cayuga Lake, has over 120 gorges and waterfalls within a ten mile radius of downtown. Just like many Finger Lakes towns, you don’t have to wander too far to peek inside of a gorge or bathe beneath a waterfall.

The eleven Finger Lakes were glacially carved out a good 10,000 years ago as the last ice age expanded and receded over and over until the deep, long, skinny lakes were formed. Rainwater now fills cracks in the sloping land around each lake. Meandering streams and rushing waterfalls empty out into the iconic finger-like lakes like water spilling into a deep and narrow bowl. We marvel at some of the best gorges during the Finger Lakes Bike Tour- Taughannock Falls, Watkins Glen, Hector Falls and Fall Creek Falls, and even some off-the-beaten path waterfalls in between! You too will understand why they say this land is “gorges” after a week full of waterfall-bliss along the Finger Lakes Bike Tour!

TUAGHANNOCK FALLS

Taughannock Falls is the largest waterfall east of the Mississippi. That’s right, you’d think it’s Niagara Falls- which wins in expanse and water flow, but Taughannock Falls is 33-feet taller than Niagara, making it quite the natural wonder to experience (and I still can’t believe it’s just right here in my backyard!) We get the gift of seeing this waterfall not once but twice along the Finger Lakes Bike Tour, each time from a different perspective. First- we take a two-mile out-and-back hike to the bottom of the falls where we get that humbling experience of being small next to one of nature’s colossal treasures. On a separate occasion, we start our day’s bike ride from Taughannock Falls Visitor Center, where a viewing deck of the waterfall frames a Finger Lakes image so iconic, you’ll understand why gift shops in the area feature pictures of it on postcards, and why artists paint renditions of the cone-like way Taughannock Falls pools up at the floor of the gorge. You might just want to grab a picture from your own camera and stamp it on your fridge for years of memories to come!

WATKINS GLEN

By the time we get to Watkins Glen State Park on the Finger Lakes Bike Tour, we’ve already seen some pretty splendid waterfall action. But some may say, compared to Watkins Glen, we haven’t seen anything yet! 

This past summer while guiding a group on the Finger Lakes Bike Tour, four of the guests on the trip were from my home state of Texas. For much of the trip, we reminisced on the wonderful parts of Texas- the mexican food, the warm weather, the extensive country music scene. Our fond memories of the home we shared had the guests wondering why I ever moved to New York at all. And it wasn’t until the day that we took a hike in Watkins Glen, a place so enchanted you’d think Chronicles of Narnia or the Lord of the Rings was filmed there, the Texas guest turned to me and conceded, “Ok, we get why you moved to New York.”

It’s true. Watkins Glen is a wonder like no other. If guests were visiting me from out of town and they were on a tight timeline and had just one gorge to visit- I would tell them to go to Watkins Glen. I could visit that falls over and over and never get tired of it. Knowing it changes from season to season- whether its under fall leaves, encased by winter icicles, bursting with spring flowers or tucked under a canopy of summer greens, it’s always beautiful. It rushes with life after a heavy rainfall, swooping through the windy, water-carved gorge, creating epic geological formations. The Devonian era shale is stacked like thin pancakes of crumbling clay and sand, leaving you marveling at the wonder of water- the shapes it can carve and the valleys of geological bliss it creates.

Water is at the heart of the wonder here in the Finger Lakes. Not only for its force and beauty, but for the life it brings. From shaping dramatic gorges like Watkins Glen and Taughannock Falls, to sustaining the region’s lakes, forests and communities, water is the invisible thread that connects it all.

From Water to Life

It’s not just the water itself that defines the Finger Lakes- it’s the way that water shapes everything around it. Here, water is life in every sense. These long, skinny Finger Lakes become drinking water, transportation, food, wine, bird habitat, tourism, economy and pure play. It’s one of the biggest reasons travelers like us are drawn to this Upstate New York treasure: to experience the vibrant, water-fed world that thrives along these shores. 

Along the Finger Lakes Bike Tour, we learn, play and experience the many ways water has shaped this magical land. We bike along scenic shorelines, we sip wine born from the lakes themselves, we admire a diversity of birds inhabiting such an expansive freshwater ecosystem. Slowly, throughout the trip- we realize everything from the food we eat to the way in which we travel has been shaped by the mighty power of the Finger Lakes. You will leave feeling not just like you took a vacation, yet that you experienced the wonders of a living, breathing landscape.

AN ECONOMY OF WATER

On the Finger Lakes Bike Tour, we spend most of our time riding and exploring five of the largest lakes- Cayuga, Seneca, Keuka, Skaneateles and Owasco. These five reside mostly in the middle of the eleven lakes, and the size and location of them contributes to their own unique story in the Finger Lakes history. 

Before rubble filled the southern and northern tips of the Finger Lakes for cities like Ithaca and Watkins Glen to find a home, their shores were once extensive wetlands that extended to streams and rivers all across the world. Which is why the Haudenasanee Confederacy,  the league of six nations native to Upstate New York, were able to thrive- having access to transportation routes and trade opportunities all over the world. Even today, Cayuga and Seneca Lake are connected to the Erie Canal System, making these two seemingly inland lakes accessible to both the Atlantic Ocean and St. Lawrence Seaway, AKA- the world. 

I find it easy to forget that the lake I live next to is a part of international waters. This would become more noticeable as boaters from all over the world would fill the marina where I used to guide those boat tours. And as up to 70 guests would fill our cruises, many of them tourists- I began to notice just how much the Finger Lake was making its mark on the map. 

Tourism has long been one of the Finger Lakes’ greatest forces. Travelers come for the water, yes—but also for the vineyards that thrive because of it, the state parks carved by it, and the small towns whose character has been shaped by centuries of lakeside life- those like Watkins Glen, Ithaca, Skaneateles which we visit on the Finger Lakes Bike Tour.

The region consistently draws visitors from across the country and around the world, eager to hike gorges, taste award-winning wines, cruise the lakes, and bike the rolling, glacially sculpted terrain. With more than a hundred wineries, countless breweries and farms, and a deep cultural history rooted in both Indigenous heritage and early American innovation, the Finger Lakes has become one of the most visited destinations in Upstate New York. Every year, the ripple effect of tourism supports local businesses, sustains conservation efforts, and keeps the Finger Lakes thriving.

BIRDS

It’s not just boats and people who can travel into these large lakes from across the world, it’s birds who migrate from South America and beyond to enjoy the marshy wilderness all around the Finger Lakes. Caspian terns, Loons, Osprey are just some of the seasonal visitors stopping through, making nests and finding food to eat within the abundant vegetation and marine habitat beneath the water. 

Ithaca and Cornell University are home to the Merlin App, the famous bird-identification phone app used by birders across the globe. Along the Finger Lakes Bike Tour, we spend an afternoon touring Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology and take a birding stroll through the marshy meadows outside the museum. This isn’t the only time we experience the Finger Lakes bird life. There is a thriving bird population in the Finger Lakes, largely because of the rich vegetation created by this cluster of fresh water lakes, as well as a predominantly clean water ecosystem (Skaneateles being the second cleanest lake in the U.S., just after Crater Lake.) It’s become pretty common for a daily Bald Eagle sighting around the lakes as their population continues to grow in Upstate New York. Flocks  of Double-crested Cormorants float on top of lakes in the Finger Lakes, diving in and out of the water for fresh fish to eat. And lately, new nests of Peregrine Falcons have appeared, giving local ornithologists and bird lovers reassurance that there is a healthy freshwater habitat here in the Finger Lakes.

Humans too, have a buffet of food and beverages grown straight from the rich Finger Lakes soil, cultivated by the warming effects of the lakes, which we will explore as our third and final Water-Filled Wonder of the Finger Lakes.

As you can see- water has a lot to do with the bounty of this area- drawing in boats, birds, and bikers like us to come explore its splendor. Come like the birds who flock to the Finger Lakes. Travel through natural and cultural history, and taste the fruit of the land along Wilderness Voyageurs’ Finger Lakes Bike Tour.

Taste Your Way Through The Finger Lakes

You may have heard of the Finger Lakes as an up-and-coming wine country, known mostly for its Rieslings and lighter-bodied wines alike. But the region is more than vineyards- it’s a fertile breadbasket. Apples, cheese, berries, corn, and many more crop fields cover the shorelines circling the Finger Lakes. 

As we bike in-between the lakes, we pass quaint dairy farms, apple orchards, farming Mennonite communities and sloping vineyards. Food is a part of the culture in the Finger Lakes and traces back to ancient indigenous farming methods like the “three sisters,” where corn, beans and squash were planted together to self-nourish each other and create a self-sustaining ecosystem.

Today, Ithaca’s Farmer’s Market, was voted by Newsweek as the #1 farmers market in the country. With over 80 vendors, all within a 30-mile radius of downtown Ithaca, pulling in more that 5,000 people a day- the market’s success serves as an indication of a thriving farm culture found in the Finger Lakes region. 

And while it sure does help create a productive agricultural region when you have a bustling farmer’s market community, robust Community Supported Agricultural (CSA’s) programs., and the presence of Cornell University and their extensive agricultural research- there’s more to the story. The Finger Lakes region wouldn’t produce such bountiful agricultural treats if it wasn’t for the lakes themselves. 

The Finger Lakes, specifically the deeper ones in the middle- Cayuga and Seneca have their own special “microclimate,” making it a rich area to grow all sorts of crops. With these lakes being deep and narrow, they store a lot of heat over the summertime, and there’s not too many places for that heat to escape except out and around the shoreline. Take Seneca Lake for example, with a whopping max depth of 660ft. All of that water heats up all summer long, like a heat sink, and when summer fades to fall the air outside gets cooler while the water keeps warm. The lake acts like a blanket to the shoreline, keeping crops warmer a lot longer than they could normally stay in a cold weather environment. Grapes can linger on the vine longer and get much sweeter, hence why Reisling’s are the famed wine around here!

Wilderness Voyageurs excels at crafting bike trips that let you truly taste and feel a region. On the Finger Lakes Bike Tour, we dive deep into the local wine and food culture—because, honestly, how could you not? We start in downtown Ithaca, feasting on local wine and cheese at a cozy hotel, guided through a curated tasting that uncovers the rich history of winemaking in the Finger Lakes. Then we spend two nights at a stunning lakeside hotel and winery, with sweeping views of Seneca Lake and a tasting room to explore at our leisure.

The restaurants chosen for the Finger Lakes Bike Tour showcase the very best of the area. Along Seneca Lake, we sip homemade cocktails and enjoy menus built entirely from local ingredients. During Fall Finger Lakes Bike Trips, the season comes alive: apples literally drop from the trees, colorful leaves light up the trails, and the flavors of fall show up in roadside lunches and on nearly every restaurant menu we visit. Every bite, sip, and ride reminds you why this region is such a culinary and scenic treasure.

What I love about guiding guests on the Finger Lakes Bike Tour, is that I too, can fall in love with my backyard surroundings all over again, as I see its splendor fresh from new traveler’s eyes. But I must admit- it’s hard to ever take this place for granted, even if it has become commonplace for me. And I believe you will understand what I mean when you bike in the Finger Lakes, and experience this living, breathing region. 

From the thundering waterfalls to the shimmering lakes that sustain life, culture and community- water is the thread that ties it all together. Wilderness Voyageurs does not just take you on vacation in the Finger Lakes- they lead you to the farm-fresh cheeses, bring you to the lake’s edge where the Osprey soar, they sit you at a table with the wine makers. They guide you to the heart of the Finger Lakes. And as the wonder of water unfolds in all of the Finger Lakes Bike Tour experiences, you will see what makes this corner of Upstate New York, my home, so unforgettable.

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