Picture-Perfect Hike Worth the Drive Sits a Few Hours From Connecticut

I love hiking. If I am able to find a hike with beautiful views, I'm going to do it. Traveling to different places and seeing so many different views is one of my favorite things.

This past weekend, I took a trip to upstate New York to hike for the weekend and all I can say is that it is 100000% worth the drive. We took a trip up to Watkins Glen State Park which is about a 4 hour drive from Danbury. As I started reading about it, it seemed like this place was a hotspot for people to come because of the waterfalls you see along the way. There are 19 waterfalls you see as you hike the park, as well as a bunch of stunning views everywhere you turn.

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Even though I love hiking, I'm not a huge fan of people. I am fast paced and like doing things at my speed. We decided that if we wanted to make the most of this, we were going to go extremely early. This paid off in every way possible because we pretty much had the entire park to ourselves. I was pretty much in shock instantly as I saw what we were walking alongside.

The park was filled with waterfalls and areas that fell into little swimming holes. Even though you weren't allowed to swim in them, if it were safe, it would be the perfect place to do so. I obviously still had to touch the water and it was cold, but it was so clean.

I felt like I was in a movie to be quite honest. There were no humans around, it was the perfect temperature, and all you heard was the sound of waterfalls. It was quite majestic if I do say so myself.

I honestly plan on going back there. The park itself has more to do, but we just focused on hiking. I walked by later in the day and the park was filled with people. I definitely don't think it would be as enjoyable with so many people since some parts of the trail are slim. One thing I think people need to also be aware of, is that there are so. many. stairs. Make sure you stretch your knees before you plan on going.

The next day we headed up to Ithaca, New York and we were stunned, to say the least, with what we stumbled upon this day. I have never heard of Buttermilk Falls State Park, but wow, it was beautiful. It seemed like a smaller version of Watkins Glen, but the views were beautiful as well.

The hike itself wasn't very long, but once again, so many stairs. What I couldn't believe was that the water was very clear and some areas looked extremely blue. If I had my bathing suit with me at this park, I would've absolutely went swimming in some of these.

This park as well just had waterfalls everywhere. It completely took my breath away. If someone asked me if I would ever go back, I would tell them 100 times without question. It is worth the weekend trip, it is worth all of the stairs, and it's something that is so unique and what you will not see in Connecticut. I'm so thankful these places are only 4 hours from Connecticut. A quick road trip for a picture-perfect hike like this? Count me in.