Discover New York~ 2 Week Trip~Part 4
July 29th-August 2nd
Allegheny State Park
The morning of July 29th dawned and we were up bright and early and ready for the last leg of our 2 week adventure. Juuuust kidding! We slept in till like 9 am, had a leisurely breakfast and drove out of the campground around 10 am. We are not early risers and only do it on days when we absolutely must. Traveling from Watkins Glen to Allegheny State Park is about a 4-5 hour drive so we were not in a rush.
We arrived around 3 pm and spent the next hour trying to find a suitable campsite. This is a state park in a hilly region and they do not have very many sites to accommodate larger RV’s. The site they had us booked in fit the RV ok except for the mud on both sides of the site. We looked at every available site and not one was better than the one we had been assigned so we took that one but we had to put rocks under our awning legs so they wouldn’t sink in the mud. Very disappointing. Plus this campground only offered electricity. No sewer and no water. Anyway, we settled in as best as we could.
After settling in we drove down to the lake and explored the surrounding area. We were booked at Cain Hollow Campground in the Quaker area of Allegheny State Park. There are 2 lakes where you can swim, fish or canoe/kayak. There are hiking trails, an amphitheater and playground along with many more amenities. On this evening we sat and enjoyed looking at the lake.
We had fun sitting by the lake but the mosquitos soon drove us back to the car. Believe me when I tell you that the mosquitos in New York state are relentless! You must have repellent of some kind with you at all times. We took this picture on the way back to the camp site.
The next day we went on a hike called Bear Caves. We really had no idea what to expect except that we would probably see some caves that bear had been known to occupy. It was a short hike, only about a half a mile if I’m not mistaken. You’ll know it when you get there. Huge rocks have been pushed up over time creating these huge walls and platforms. Some have formed into small “caves”. They say there are 3 that you can go in and explore. We found 2 of them and David went into both.
This first one you just walk right in. But the second one we found was on top of one of these high “platforms” and David had to climb down into a tiny space to get into it. He said it opened up once you got inside. No thank you very much!
Walking around all of these “walls” and “platforms” I found this boxed off area. I named it Dena’s Den. It is completely closed off except for the narrow entrance. Almost like a house without a roof. When the zombie apocalypse happens this will be my home. ;)
Looking down into Dena’s Den from above.
Later we went to a place called Thunder Rocks. Legend has it that the Seneca Indian’s god’s held a competition to see which one could throw huge boulders the furthest up the mountain. The tribe living in the area at the time heard the thunderous sounds all night as the competition was waged. The next morning they set out to see what had made all the thundering noise the night before and they found these huge boulders all up and down the side of this mountain and so called the place Thundering Rocks.
This place is very interesting. You can climb all over most of the rocks so kids get a big kick out of coming here. Even kids who don’t realize they’re not kids anymore.
If you open your mind and let your imagination run you can see shapes of animals in the boulders. To me this looks like the face of a huge turtle.
On the drive back to the campground we took this picture of a tree. It looks like the tree is on fire with the sun shining through the branches.
Back at the RV Hercules had to have a bath cause daddy spilled coffee on him. Herc merely endures baths. Poor guy!
The next day we went to the opposite side of the state park called the Red House Area. There we visited The Fire Tower which is a restored fire tower from 1926. It sits on one of the highest peaks in the Red House Area.
You can climb up to the top and the views are spectacular!
After leaving the tower we did an almost 4 mile hike. Even though the hike was nearly 4 miles it’s a flat, well marked hike so is really just a very enjoyable walk in the woods.
After the hike we did a biking trail around Red House Lake. This is a 5 mile paved bike trail around the lake with amazing views.
There is a covered bridge to ride over. It reminded me of the covered bridge on Little House on the Prairie.
Hercules, as always, enjoyed the ride as well.
After returning to the Quaker area and having dinner we stopped by the lake one more time to say goodbye as we would be starting our 2 day trip home early the next morning. And this time it would actually be an early morning rising at 6am to leave by 7am and driving all day for 2 days to get back home. But for now we enjoyed the quiet serenity of a full moon over Quaker Lake.
