View of Seneca Lake from Watkins Glen, NY

This week my 48 state run took me through Watkins Glen, NY. Located on the southern tip of Seneca Lake, Watkins Glen is a major tourist destination in New York’s Finger Lakes country.

First, my route went past Watkins Glen International, which features world-class racing including NASCAR, Indy, and historic & vintage car races. It’s quite the attraction during the summer, especially when NASCAR is in town — but I tend to prefer the Vintage Grand Prix. There’s nothing like watching historic race cars from as far back as the 1920’s compete against other historic cars from the same era! And between heats, the cars are all out on display for everyone’s admiration.

Just a few miles away from the racetrack is Watkins Glen State Park where you can hike (or run) a fantastic gorge.

Watkins Glen State Park (Flickr: riverap1)

The scenery here is really quite fantastic as you can tell from these pictures! The gorge is also quite steep. My route doesn’t come right down into the gorge, but instead follows the trails hugging the rim.

Watkins Glen State Park (Flickr: dlhdmb13)

There are hiking trails throughout Watkins Glen State Park which allow you to explore many of the nooks and crannies in this beautiful gorge. The entire Glen is riddled with waterfalls, ranging from the majestic, like the one in the photo above, to tiny cascading ledges which make you feel like you’re in a huge zen garden.

Watkins Glen State Park (Flickr: Peter Rivera)

Watkins Glen State Park (Flickr: dlhdmb13)

At the base of the Glen lies the town of Watkins Glen, NY and the southern tip of Seneca Lake. From here I’ll continue my way up the western side of the lake, running northwest towards Penn Yan on Keuka Lake and then Canandaigua on Canandaigua Lake.

Sailboat on Seneca Lake (Flickr: eflon)

Don’t forget to follow along on the course map. If you view the map on MapMyRun.com you’ll find a link above the map which allows you to view a course fly-by video. Check it out!

With the dawn of a new year and a new decade, I’ve launched a new endeavor. I’m going to run through all 48 continental states in the USA! And I can’t think of a better place to kick it off than right here in Corning, NY at the Corning Museum of Glass.

Corning Museum of Glass

Corning is also where the Wineglass Marathon ends. This fabulous marathon course starts in Bath, NY and follows the river down to Corning, with the finish line right near the Corning Museum of Glass.

5 miles down, ???? to go…

I ran the first leg of my virtual run through all 48 states on January 2nd, 2010 — heading north from the Corning Museum of Glass up towards Watkins Glen, NY. Please check out the Run 48 States information page to find out more, and follow my progress on the Run 48 States Map.