Finger Lakes

Why should it be a National Park?

The Finger Lakes region is a geographically distinct landscape in central New York state made up of 11 long, narrow lakes and the hills between them. Around two million-years-ago an ice sheet traveled south from what is now Canada and altered the terrain. Glaciers carved tremendous gorges into the ground before the ice sheet eventually receded. These gorges filled with water and became known as the Finger Lakes.

At the northern end of the lakes is a relatively flat environment between Rochester and Syracuse. In the south, the Finger Lakes overlap the northern end of the Allegheny Plateau. The lakes and mountainous topography result in an array of canyons, river gorges, and waterfalls.

Several well-known natural features populate the area, although visitors are not always aware they are part of the overall Finger Lakes region. The popular Watkins Glen State Park trail follows a stream that descends 400 feet through 200 foot cliffs, with 19 waterfalls along its course. Taughannock Falls, Robert H. Treman, and Buttermilk Falls State Parks surround the city of Ithaca. Each of these parks is incredible and worth exploring. Ithaca itself has several waterfall trails within its borders at Ithaca Falls Natural Area and the Cascadilla Gorge Trail. Waterfalls are most prominent at the southern end of the lakes.

Heading north along the shores of the lakes, many overlooks and roads provide both sweeping and up-close views of the waters. Boating, kayaking, fishing, and swimming are popular in the lakes, while many public and private reserves and parks allow for hiking and biking opportunities.

Around all of the lakes are wineries, shops, and historic sites that exemplify the diversity and cultural significance of the region. Many important historical figures once called the towns surrounding the lakes home. President Milliard Fillmore was raised in a cabin south of Owasco Lake. The Women's Rights Movement began in Seneca Falls, while human rights advocates Harriet Tubman and William Seward lived in Auburn. Many religious movements began here, including Mormonism and Spiritualism, and period structures remain to tell their stories. The Erie Canal helped bring these impactful people here in the 1800s, and the canal and sites dedicated to their legacies make this a vibrant and undeniable piece of American history.

Today, the Finger Lakes are a popular summer escape, but there is no overarching park structure to unify the natural setting and the historical elements. The intersecting trails, gorges, ravines, waterfalls, woodlands, grasslands, swamps, wildlife, and historical events are more than deserving of a National Park that assembles each of these features into one cohesive protected area.