Upstate

Guides

Listings

Itineraries

Regions

Eastern Lakes

Accommodation

Culture & Heritage

Outdoor

Retail

Attraction

Brewery

Cafe

Cidery

Distillery

Farm

Historic Site

Restaurant

Winery

Cayuga County

Chemung County

Livingston County

Monroe County

Onondaga County

Ontario County

Schuyler County

Seneca County

Steuben County

Tompkins County

Yates County

Canadice Lake

Canandaigua Lake

Cayuga Lake

Conesus Lake

Hemlock Lake

Honeoye Lake

Keuka Lake

Otisco Lake

Owasco Lake

Seneca Lake

Silver Lake

Skaneateles Lake

Finger Lakes Farm Pass

Finger Lakes Food & Drink Pass

Finger Lakes Heritage Pass

Finger Lakes Outdoor Pass

Adirondack Region

Capital-Saratoga Region

Catskills Region

Central NY Region

Finger Lakes Region

Hudson Valley Region

Niagara Frontier Region

Thousand Islands Region

Arcade

Auburn

Aurora

Avon

Bloomfield

Bluff Point

Branchport

Burdett

Canandaigua

Castile

Conesus

Dansville

Dundee

Fairport

Geneseo

Geneva

Hammondsport

Hector

Hemlock

Himrod

Honeoye

Interlaken

Ithaca

Keuka Park

King Ferry

Lafayette

Lakeville

Linwood

Livonia

Locke

Marcellus

Marietta

Montezuma

Moravia

Mount Morris

Mumford

Naples

Niles

North Java

Ovid

Penn Yan

Perry

Piffard

Romulus

Rushville

Savona

Sempronius

Seneca Falls

Silver Springs

Skaneateles

Springwater

Syracuse

Trumansburg

Tully

Union Springs

Varysburg

Victor

Warsaw

Waterloo

Watkins Glen

Wyoming

Canandaigua Lake Wine Trail

Canandaigua Wine

Cayuga Lake Wine Trail

Cayuga Wine

Finger Lakes Wine Trail

Keuka Lake Wine Trail

Keuka Wine

Keuka Wine Trail

LivCo Libation Loop

Seneca Lake Wine Trail

Seneca Wine

Canandaigua Lake 

The chosen spot. The lake has carried its Seneca name for centuries.

The longest lake. The deepest reform corridor. Thirty-nine miles that changed American history twice and is still producing Riesling that earns international attention.

Western Lakes 

Five smaller lakes on the western edge of the Finger Lakes region, where the wine trail gives way to gorge country, craft beverage clusters, and farms that stay open late.

Seneca Lake 

The deepest lake creating the microclimate that made the Finger Lakes wine region possible.

The only Y-shaped Finger Lake and home to aviation pioneer, Glenn Curtiss.

Finger Lakes Region 

<p>11 Lakes. 140 Wineries. A lot of history. </p>

11 Lakes. 140 Wineries. A lot of history. 

<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman">Harriet Tubman</a> purchased her seven-acre property on South Street from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Miller_Seward">Frances Seward</a> in 1859. The Sewards held the mortgage privately because Tubman was legally a fugitive under federal law. The original wood-frame home burned in 1880 and was rebuilt in brick; that structure stands today. In 1896, Tubman bought an adjacent 25-acre parcel at auction for $1,450 and opened the Home for the Aged and Indigent Negroes in 1908. The National Park Service established the site as the 51st <a href="https://www.nps.gov/hart/index.htm">National Historical Park</a> on January 10, 2017. Guided tours of roughly 90 minutes run Tuesday through Saturday. Guide Rev. Paul Carter is consistently cited in reviews as the reason to book.

Harriet Tubman Home

National Historical Park site with Tubman's residence and Home for the Aged

The Seward House Museum is the home of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Seward">William H. Seward</a>, U.S. Senator, two-term Governor of New York, Lincoln's Secretary of State, and the architect of the 1867 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Purchase">Alaska Purchase</a>. Built in 1816 as the Miller family home and inherited by William through his marriage to Frances Miller Seward, the house operated as an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Railroad">Underground Railroad</a> stop and sheltered Tubman's niece Margaret for a period. A basement exhibit, <a href="https://www.sewardhouse.org/exhibitions/forged-in-freedom/">Forged in Freedom</a>: The Bond of the Seward-Tubman Families, documents the two families' decades-long relationship. Closed Mondays and Sundays, closed in winter.

Seward House Museum

Home of William H. Seward with the Forged in Freedom Tubman-Seward exhibit

Strawberry Fields sits on Route 20 between Skaneateles village and Auburn, a working farm and roadside florist with one distinctive feature: hydroponic strawberry production that lets visitors pick clean, dirt-free berries at standing height from June through October. Scissors are provided at the entrance. Sunflower maze runs late summer with $2-a-stem pick-your-own sunflowers. The gift shop carries local jams, honey, eggs, Yancy's Fancy cheese, and New Hope Mills pancake mixes. Fresh-cut Christmas trees and handmade wreaths in winter. Closed Mondays in season.

Strawberry Fields and Florist

Hydroponic pick-your-own strawberries, sunflower maze, and roadside florist

Anyela's Vineyards sits above the west shore of Skaneateles Lake, with the tasting room and Robinson Pavilion concert space on elevated ground overlooking the vineyard blocks. The Nocek family buries vines through winter, a practice that reflects the site's elevation and colder climate compared with the Cayuga and Seneca wine regions. The tasting room pours a full portfolio of dry and semi-sweet wines. Robinson Pavilion hosts <a href="https://www.skanfest.org/">Skaneateles Festival</a> outdoor concerts through July and August and private events the rest of the season.

Anyela's Vineyards

Nocek family winery with concert pavilion above the west shore

Fort Hill Cemetery covers rolling ground on the west side of Auburn. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman">Harriet Tubman</a> is buried beneath a Norway spruce planted by her great-niece and nephew. William and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Miller_Seward">Frances Seward</a> and their children lie nearby. Other notable burials include <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Willard_Case">Theodore Case</a> (developer of the Movietone sound-on-film system), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Holland">Jerome Holland</a> (Ambassador to Sweden and the first Black director of the New York Stock Exchange), Lydia Ann Moulton Jenkins (the first ordained female minister in the Universalist church), and Col. Myles Keogh (killed with Custer at the Little Bighorn). At the hilltop: a 56-foot obelisk erected in 1852 to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Logan_(Mingo)">Tah-gah-jute</a> (Chief Logan), celebrated chief of the Cayuga.

Fort Hill Cemetery

Historic cemetery with Tubman, Seward, Case, and Holland burials

The trail at Bahar Nature Preserve follows Bear Swamp Creek down through layered shale to Carpenter Falls, a 90-foot plunge waterfall dropping into a clear pool. The gorge walls above the falls rival the better-known formations at Ithaca and Watkins Glen. The trail back up is moderate. Free and open year-round; the preserve includes 65 feet of direct Skaneateles Lake shoreline at the north end. No entry fee, no organized tourism apparatus. The Charlie Major Nature Trail from the Skaneateles village runs 4.4 miles south along the lakeshore to Mottville, flat, free, year-round. Don't miss the lake shoreline at the preserve's north end after the falls: it's one of the few places to sit at the water's edge in the eastern lakes without a boat.

Bahar Nature Preserve

Bahar Nature Preserve is held by the Finger Lakes Land Trust on the fringe of Skaneateles. The trail drops to Carpenter Falls through Devonian shale to a 90-foot plunge waterfall. Free, open year-round. The preserve also includes 65 feet of direct lake shoreline, making it a combined waterfall and swimming access in a single walk.

Fifty-three acres, 65 feet of Skaneateles Lake shoreline, and a 90-foot waterfall that is almost always less crowded than the gorge parks further south.

The village of Skaneateles sits at the lake's north end where Genesee Street runs straight to the water and stops. The Sherwood Inn, built in 1807 as a stagecoach stop, is still the center of gravity: 25 rooms, a tavern open in some form for over two centuries, and views of the lake from the dining room. The village is small enough to walk in twenty minutes and dense enough in 19th-century architecture that those twenty minutes pass slowly in the best way.

Sherwood Inn

The village of Skaneateles sits at the lake's north end where Genesee Street runs straight to the water and stops. The Sherwood Inn, built in 1807 as a stagecoach stop, is still the center of gravity: 25 rooms, a tavern open in some form for over two centuries, and views of the lake from the dining room.

The village inn that has anchored the north end of Skaneateles since 1807, with rooms above a tavern that still serves the locals.

Skaneateles Artisans is a small co-op gallery representing more than 150 New York State artists across painting, ceramics, jewelry, fiber art, woodwork, and hand-made ornaments. The shop sits on Fennell Street, a block off the main Genesee strip, which keeps foot traffic modest and gives the space a gallery rather than a shop feel. Prices range widely, with hand-crafted ornaments and small-format art at the lower end. The owner is named in guest reviews for knowledge and enthusiasm.

Skaneateles Artisans

Co-op gallery representing 150 New York State artists

Bear Swamp State Forest spans 3,539 acres across the uplands west of Skaneateles Lake. Roughly 14 miles of marked multi-use trails (red, yellow, and blue loops) serve hikers, cross-country skiers, mountain bikers, and snowmobilers in winter. The swamp at the forest's center feeds Bear Swamp Creek, which drops over Carpenter Falls and then enters Skaneateles Lake as its largest tributary. Rare Cerulean Warbler habitat. Hunting permitted in season. Roads into the forest are unmaintained and better suited to high-clearance vehicles.

Bear Swamp State Forest

3,539-acre state forest with 14 miles of multi-use trails

Auburn Public Theater is an independent nonprofit on Exchange Street running year-round programming across film, stage performance, comedy, and spoken-word events. The venue also hosts the annual Auburn International Film Festival. The ground-floor Cafe 108 operates as a social enterprise with all profits directed to the theater. Ticket prices are low relative to major regional venues, which keeps the theater embedded in the community rather than tourism-focused. Box office hours and performance schedules posted online.

Auburn Public Theater

Independent theater and cinema with on-site café

Owasco Paddles operates a boat-rental concession inside Emerson Park at the north end of Owasco Lake. Kayaks (single and double), canoes, and stand-up paddleboards available by the hour. Dogs permitted on most rentals. Life jackets provided with zipped pockets for cell phone and keys. Owner Nikki or staff run quick paddleboarding lessons for first-timers. Seasonal operation; closed on high-wind days. Short walk from the Emerson Park parking lot.

Owasco Paddles

Kayak, canoe, and paddleboard rentals inside Emerson Park

The sound-on-film work that Theodore Case completed in Auburn in 1926 was the foundational technology for synchronized sound in cinema. His collaboration with Lee de Forest produced the Phonofilm system; his subsequent work with Fox Film produced Movietone, the system that made the transition from silent to sound film commercially viable worldwide. The Case Research Lab, a purpose-built facility adjacent to the Cayuga Museum on Genesee Street, is preserved with its original equipment. Open Tuesday through Saturday; the museum also covers the full arc of Auburn's reform history and holds materials related to the Harriet Tubman years at 180 South Street.

Cayuga Museum of History and Art

Theodore Case developed the first successful sound-on-film technology in Auburn in the 1920s, making the talking picture possible. The Case Research Lab building still stands adjacent to the museum. The Cayuga Museum also holds the documentary record of Harriet Tubman's Auburn years and the broader Cayuga County reform network.

Theodore Case developed the first successful sound-on-film technology in Auburn in the 1920s, and the lab where he did it is part of this museum complex.

Emerson Park sits at the north end of Owasco Lake. The Emerson Foundation deeded the land to Cayuga County in 1941 for $1, with the stipulation that it remain free for Cayuga County residents. The park holds boat launches and slips, the Preston H. Thomas Theatre (home to The REV Theatre Company), the Ward O'Hara Agricultural Museum, a disc golf course, a playground, picnic shelters, a restored seawall, and designated dog-friendly areas. The 66-by-253-foot pavilion faces the lake and hosts events through the warm season. Open 24 hours.

Emerson Park

135-acre county park at the north end of Owasco Lake

<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman">Harriet Tubman</a> chose Auburn in 1859 because of what was already there: a Quaker abolitionist network, a sympathetic senator two blocks away, and proximity to the Canadian border routes she knew from conducting. She settled on a seven-acre farm at 180 South Street in Fleming, purchased through a private arrangement with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Seward">Seward family</a> while she was legally a fugitive. She spent 54 years in Auburn after that: organizing, running the Home for the Aged for elderly African Americans, and supporting women's suffrage. The National Historical Park, established in 2017, encompasses the residence, the Home for the Aged, and the Thompson AME Zion Church. NPS rangers lead guided walks. Free admission. Open year-round. March 10 is observed annually as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman_Day">Harriet Tubman Day</a>.

Harriet Tubman National Historical Park

Where freedom found an address

The NYS Equal Rights Heritage Center occupies a new building on South Street across from the Seward House Museum. Interactive exhibits trace New York's role in abolition, women's suffrage, civil rights, labor rights, and LGBTQ rights. A bronze <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman">Harriet Tubman</a> statue stands in the courtyard. The center serves as the official trailhead for Harriet's Lantern Trail, a 12-stop self-guided walking tour through Auburn, and as the Auburn visitor center with full brochure and information services. A Taste NY market sells New York-produced food and beverage. Free admission. Closed Mondays.

NYS Equal Rights Heritage Center

State-run interpretive center and visitor center with bronze Tubman statue

The Schweinfurth Art Center was funded by the trust of Auburn-born architect <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Schweinfurth">Julius A. Schweinfurth</a> and opened in 1981. The gallery runs a year-round schedule of rotating contemporary exhibitions, with the annual Made in NY juried show and the December Art=Quilt=Art show as signature programming. A gift shop carries work by exhibiting artists. Free parking, modest suggested donation. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Schweinfurth Art Center

Contemporary art gallery on Genesee Street, home of the Made in NY exhibition

Eastern Lakes

Explore More Guides

Canandaigua Lake

Cayuga Lake

Western Lakes

Seneca Lake

Keuka Lake

Finger Lakes Region