Summer 2025 Ontario, Canada

July 21, 2025

It’s the summer of 2025 and we are still touring in Canada. When we bought our van in 2021, we thought would be fortunate, at our stage of life, to get 3 good years of travel. We are now working on our 5th season. Life is good and we are truly fortunate.

True to form, we are heading back to Canada in summer but only for a month this time. We are exploring the Georgian Bay area of our birth province of Ontario.  Georgian Bay is part of Lake Huron in the Great Lakes system. We will spend several days on Manitoulin Island, a place I have always wanted to visit followed by our 2 weeks visiting family across Ontario over to Quebec…. for the second time this year.

We are starting the trip with 2 nights in Watkins Glen State Park and hiking the gorge. We have been here several times with friends but not in the last 20 years.

We have already spent close to 30+ nights in the van already this year and getting ready for travel is almost automatic now.

July 21-22, 2025 Watkins Glen State Park

Its been very hot and humid at home so far. We spent last week in New York City where the temperature with the humidity climbed to 100F.

It was a pleasant change to need to wear a jacket the first evening and be able to use our little solo Mesa fireplace.

Now to walk the Gorge. Hiking sticks, check. Water bottles, check.

Watkins Glen Gorge is a spectacular natural canyon located in Watkins Glen State Park in New York’s Finger Lakes region, carved over thousands of years by Glen Creek flowing through sedimentary rock layers. The gorge sits at the southern tip of Seneca Lake and stretches approximately two miles through dramatic limestone and shale formations that rise up to 200 feet high.

Geography and Formation

The gorge was formed through centuries of water erosion cutting through ancient sedimentary rock layers deposited when prehistoric s eas covered the region millions of years ago. These geological strata are clearly visible in the canyon walls, creating a natural timeline of Earth’s history. The narrow passages, deep pools, and intricate rock sculptures showcase the incredible power of water to shape solid stone over time.

The Trail Experience

The famous Gorge Trail is an engineering marvel in itself, featuring over 800 carefully constructed stone steps that wind through the canyon from the lower entrance near the village up to the upper entrance. The trail spans about 1.5 miles and takes visitors past 19 waterfalls, including the stunning Rainbow Falls and Cavern Cascade, where you can actually walk behind the falling water. The stone pathway and steps were largely built during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

The weather today was perfect for a good hike. It has been hot, humid and rainy this month. Today was a gift.

It took us a little over 3 hours to walk down front our campsite to the trail head and then walk UP the gorge. The last mile to the top was a staircase of 180 stone steps. Rather than walking back down the gorge to our campsite, we walked the North Rim trail back and stayed mainly on top.

We spent the afternoon relaxing. I even had a nap! We’ll deserved it would say.

Tomorrow we cross over into 🇨🇦 🍁 again and the Ontario portion of our trip begins.