Excelsior Glen. And the True Painted Rocks of Seneca lake

Location of Excelsior Glen.

       There is another glen in the region that is far lesser known than even Havana. This is Excelsior glen, I first read of this glen from an article in an old magazine (1870s) I believe it was I don't have the pdf on this computer so I do not recall the date. I also don't recall the names of all of the waterfalls. It is the smallest of the three out of Watkins, Havana, and Excelsior.

     

      The glen is located just outside the town of Watkins Glen along Rt 414. It is on the right of the road and if you aren't paying attention you will miss it. A portion of the Finger lakes trail runs along side the glen allowing access to it. The history of the glen includes being a launching spot and hunting camp for the Native Americans. There is a local legend about some rocks on the side of Seneca lake with a painting of an american flag on it.  You can read some info here . The story is most certainly a fable invented to gain passengers on the ferry up the lake when the railroad was introduced. However within the entrance of Excelsior there lies the inspiration for the tale. The true painted rocks of Seneca lake.

One of the marks showing vandalism.

A series of marks high up on the cliff.

A solitary mark.

    The idea behind these marks is that they were a system of communicating from one group of hunters to the other. Perhaps they are to show the number of people in a party. These are little snippets of history that are still there today is you want to find them they are on the north wall of the glen before any waterfalls. When I first read of them I was not sure if they were still there because the report I read was from the early 60s I believe. So When I went to the glen I was sure to look for them and after about  10 minutes of searching the cliff face I finally found them and documented them as best I could. The first one I found showed some signs of vandalism which disappointed me quite a bit. But I found some that were a bit out of reach of vandals and should be well protected in the years to come.

First waterfall.

  The first waterfall is a unique waterfall, at one point in time a boulder became lodged in the crevice of the rock. A space underneath the bolder allows for water to flow through.

Second fall.

     The second water fall lies a short distance beyond the first. It is a nice cascade with the water slowly falling over the rock face to a very shallow crystal clear pool at the base.

A small water fall 

  The third waterfall is a rather small waterfall and was rather obnoxious to navigate past. 

A mineral spring of some sort.

Empire fall.

        Empire fall is the largest waterfall in the glen, and is quite a walk from the other three. But it is well worth the walk.Empire fall is at least 150 possibly even 200 feet in height. According to the article the proprietor of the glen at the time claimed it to be the tallest fall in New York state. It is quite the impressive water fall with a fairly deep pool at the base. There is very little water that comes over the falls so the water moves very slow and thus the pool is stagnant. This is the furthest I have made it in the glen but I have read that there is one more waterfall further up.