Upstate New York trip

Going to New York the first week of October, fly into Buffalo and rent a vehicle. Going to Niagra Falls for sure then I want to see Dairy country and some of that mountain scenery like in the last of the Mohicans movie. The Speaker of the House likes fall leaves, which I figure will be everywhere, so she is content to ride wherever I take her.

For leaves I would say Letchworth Park which skirts the Genesee River for approximately 17 miles. Has three waterfalls plus the dam at Mount Morris. It never disappoints me and tends to brighten my mood. Canoeing is allowed on some sections depending on waterlevel due to the dam. About an hour from Buffalo. The Naples area below Canandaigua Lake is another excellent area to look at leaves plus there is a Grape festival depending when you are there plus vineyards that you can circle the area over to Penn Yan Amish Country then down 54 to Hammondsport.
West of the Letchworth area is Castile and there are some large dairies plus a couple of potato farms. Some nice farm country around Batavia.
If you have time I would get down in to the Heart of the Finger Lakes and drive around Seneca and Cayuga Lakes. Some good restaurants and good mix of dairy, cash crop, vineyards. Not to slight the other fine towns around but Ithaca is nice to look at and has Cornell University and some fine eating.
Good cultural attractions such as the Strong Museum at Rochester. Don't get into Buffalo much but there are some hidden gems maybe others can comment on. The Bills may not be playing well (if football is your thing) so far but I always enjoyed the tailgating and there are a couple quiet areas in the parking lots that are somewhat quiet if you don't want to join the rowdies.
Much more to do. I just scratched the surface.

Last of the Mohicans movie wasn't filmed anywhere near New York State. It was filmed in the south . . . Georgia, North Carolina, so something close. Look close and you'll see many trees and bushes that don't grow around here.

Am I'm sure you know that Buffalo is the "armpit" of New York State. NY starts looking much better once you leave it.

The story in the book, yes, in Cooper's New York.
I live 15 miles from Cooperstown, founded and named after Judge Cooper - the father or grandfather of James Fennimore Cooper, who wrote "Last of the Mohicans."
So, you're not going to see the same scenery as you did in the movie. Go the right places though, and our's is a lot better.

Good luck at Niagara Falls. Last time I went there, I felt like I was on another planet. Jammed with people (many wearing turbans), casinos, etc. Tough place to drive through, on either side of the border. I made the mistake of trying to drive though and get a peek at the falls. I got to see nothing.

Prettiest dairy country with medium mountains and rolling hills is Delaware and Otsego Counties (in my opinion). Prettiest mountain views that are unspoiled and undeveloped are in Hamilton County - Central Adirondacks. Indian Lake, Blue Mountain Lake, Racquette Lake, North Creek, Lake Pleasant, Speculator, etc. - all absolutey beautiful, unspoiled, and probably the best views in the entire state. If you want to see many dairy farms with huge windmills run through them, go the Tug Hill Plateau Jefferson/Lewis Counties. It's basically a huge mountain with the top cut off. Once you're up there, you don't know it.

I'm curious. What dairy country are you going to see? Or perhaps, I should say what "soon to be ex-dairy" country. They are disappearing pretty fast. We had over 50 just in our small town, 30 years ago. Now we've got 3-4 left that are actually milking cows.

If you venture to the central Adirondacks, check out the Wild Center in Tupper Lake. They've done an amazing job on it. Adirondack Museum is also pretty neat.

Thanks for the suggestions -- I had forgotten about Cornell University -- I will definitely go through the campus, I have probably read a hundred different livestock related articles and bulletins over the years that originated from research conducted at Cornell.

I should make a note that there will be a significant difference in leaf color progression (in color turn) going from Buffalo (still mostly green I would imagine) to the Southern Tier area. Been some cool evenings recently so I think maybe Hammondsport and the South end of Letchworth will show a lot more color than Erie County (Buffalo). Should be able to find reports on sites like The Weather Channel in regards to the leaves turning.

My mistake, I thought the movie credits listed New York. It is a shame that it is mostly ex-dairy country but still alot of old places to look at. I have a collections of Farm Journals going back to the early 50's and have read no telling how many articles on northeastern states dairys etc. Always admired the well kept farms and well cared for cows.

Buffalo has some amazing church architecture, if you are into that sort of thing.

I've been living in a dairy-farming area of NY for 40 years, and when I first saw the movie, I thought it was NY. Great movie, just the same. Wes Studi is one of my all-time favorite Indian actors - even though he's kind of bad-guy Huron in the movie. My wife and I also like Daniel Day Lewis.

If you want to see NY, much depends if you like natural beauty, or would rather see what people have built on it and done to it. Personally, I like the unspoiled and undeveloped parts.

If you collect old farm journals, the old "Rural New Yorker" is a good one. I've got over a hundred going back to the 1920s. Obviously, that is specifically New York. I've also got a large collection of the mag. named "Farm Journal", printed in Pennsylvania, that covers a much wider area.

Northern NY near the St. Lawrence River is pretty flat, swampy, and kind of boring. It is though, the place where the only attack on Canada, was launched from US soil - by a bunch of drunken Irishmen called "Fenians." The Finger Lakes /wine country is pretty and rolling. Central New York has higher hills, still a lot of farming, and some of the best views in NY (in my opinion).
The guy who wrote Last of the Mohicans had the Albany/Glens Falls/Cooperstown areas in mind, near where I live. Cooperstown has a mix of natural and man-made beauty. Otsego Lake, Baseball Hall of Fame (I've never gone there), Farmers Museum (neat place), Fennimore House, etc. Not far off is Howes Caves in Cobleskill (amazing underground place).

All in all though, I still think the central Adirondacks beats them all. I was there a few days ago and am heading up again tomorrow morning. They're getting frost every morning now, in Hamilton County.

(quoted from post at 11:52:14 09/17/10)

Am I'm sure you know that Buffalo is the "armpit" of New York State. NY starts looking much better once you leave it.

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Went to a convention in Buffalo about 15 years ago. Hotel and convention center were a few blocks apart. Just a liiiiitle bit uncomfortable walking back and forth. Wasn't real impressed with the water falls but that's just me.

Dave

Yeah, along with some of the old wealthier areas. There is a lot of beauty in Western NY. It's just not concentrated all into one small area. It will be a sad day if I ever have to leave because of the small gems that abound.

Saw them once and that was good enough for me.All they made me do was want to pee real bad.

Vito

As a lifetime resident of the area I can recommend this:

Head east out of Buffalo on US 20A (not US 20!) to Letchworth Park. Traveling via 20A will take you through some NY prime dairy country - also some large hills. Once at the park follow the park road to see the gorge, the fall foliage and the Portage High Bridge (the park road is about 17 miles end to end.)

If after visiting Letchworth you want more, continue east to Canandaigua. Then head south along the lake to Naples. Excellent scenery and more nice farm country.

Incidentally Niagara Falls is briefly interesting if you've not seen it before. But the area around the falls has degenerated into an circus sideshow - expensive, and always crawling with non-English speaking tourists. It diminishes the majesty of the falls themselves.

It was Filmed in the same town as Dirty Dancing
Lake Lure / Bat Cave N.C.

How long you got? Lot to see, NY is a good size state. Letchworth is a can"t miss for sure. Ithaca is close to two hours from letchworth. Most of the dairy in the Finger lakes is Mennonite or Amish,"English" farmers are mostly beans corn or orchards.
I have some pictures on Flickr of the Finger Lakes area I don"t know how to post links,but go to Flickr.com search members and then Pitch7412 to see some of the area.
Have fun spend a lot of money and let us know what you think.

I don't know what mountain scenery you will see around Buffalo but the falls and autumn leaves should be nice.Have a good trip.

Last of the Mohicans took place in the Lake George/Glens Falls area. You can follow th w route they took from Ft Wm Henry down Rt 9 past Bloody Pond ( the massacre site IIRC) and down to Ft Edward. Ft Wm Henry in Lake George has a good display on the whole mess.

The cave they hid in, Fenimores cave, is under the falls in Glens Falls. I don't know if you can access it anymore. For that matter the book/movie is a mix of fact and fiction so do some research.

Fall is a nice time to visit the Thousand Islands region and the mountains, and it doens't hurt to travel Rt 11 across the top of the state and see Lake Champlain and the surrounding area. Much less touristy than Vermont this time of year. And if you hit it right, take the gondola ride at Gore Mt Ski Area in North Creek, you'll never get better views.

If you want to see "dairy country", you should head to Lewis county. Lowville area is second to none as far as dairy farming goes.

crap... now you will tell me it werent real and the indians were fake!!!! next thing you will be picking on ole santa and the north pole.

Plenty of "English" dairy farmers big and small on RTE 20 (not 20A) from Avon to Geneva. Stanley (SW of Geneva) is the same. Yeah, there are plenty of Black hats and Straw Hats anymore.
We here in New York could keep you VERY busy seeing the sites here. I think the Finger Lakes has an extremely nice mix of farms if you had time to see it all.

By the way you could do Bob's route (20A) but break off 20A at Geneseo and take 39 to Avon. Barilla Pasta has a processing facility at Avon east of the Genesee River.

The last seventeen minutes of "Last of The Mohicans" was filmed at Chimney Rock State Park in North Carolina. It is a beautiful drive between Ashville Nc and Charlotte Nc on highway 64/74a. I have done it a couple of times.


Dave K

(reply to post at 19:52:14 09/17/10)

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JDemaris,,, We spent a week in your area 12/13 years ago,,, son played ball at the local field of dreams... we stayed in a cabin some 12/15 miles from coppers town,,, to my surprise I felt right at home,,, loved the cool temps,,, I plan to go back someday...

Y'all folks tall a little funny tho :lol:

Don't know how much time you have. NY is a pretty big state to drive around in. From Buffalo I would say you should travel to the finger lakes area and you will see everything you want. If you can make it to Hammondsport you should stop at the Glenn Curtiss museum. It is must see for anyone interested in old engines. Lots of history there and even a few old tractors.

Buffalo does have some great restaurants and Sabres games are a lot of fun if it was hockey season. I agree with the others, Letchworth State park and the Adirondacks if you like foliage/scenery/hiking. Can't miss the finger lakes if you are going to be in New York.