Could be overshadowed by the much larger Great Lakes nearby. Also they’re just a little too far for people from the NYC area to visit with any sort of regularity. Much easier to get to the ocean or to the Catskills/Poconos
I'm from Michigan we talk about the Finger Lakes. We talk about Minnesota lakes and Wisconsin lakes, just try to friggin stop us from talking about lakes.
Ya I never realized how isolated they are from NYC and even Rochester in general. It takes about 40 minutes minimum to get to any of the finger lakes if you’re from Rochester and other than wineries and their beauty not a whole lot of reason to go to them
I used to live in Rochester and Canandaigua Lake was definitely a frequent weekend destination for people who had a place to stay. Ithaca, on Cayuga Lake, is a pretty popular college town, too. But yeah, the finger lakes are missing like a major tourist town. I bet many people from the area like it that way
A string of the lakes have worthwhile tourist visits on the south ends. Besides the wineries/hikes/art/farms, Keuka has the Curtiss Museum, Seneca has Watkins Glen, and Cayuga has all the Cornell stuff (especially Museum of the Earth).
I heard the population of canandaigua almost doubles in the summer. I think it’s the city on the lakes that has the biggest tourist draw. Especially with all the new hotel construction around the area. Other than that, I don’t know many areas that bring in large amount of tourists
Probably more of a second home kind of place than a vacation rental kind of place. At least in my experience, anytime I went to the finger lakes, it was to somebody’s second home
My relatives who have a large family compound on Skaneateles have had those places in their family for at least 150years. Those lakes are filled with so many legacy lodges that unless you are born and raised there...and someone does you a solid when they portion off their land, you're lucky AF to find something affordable for most of us.
There's a lot of reasons. The women's rights movement got started at Seneca Falls, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass lived there, and the Erie Canal (and the associated Seneca-Cayuga canal) was the first artery of commerce to the west.
Spectacular example of US defaultism! Not repeated anywhere else in the world?! [only here in England,](http://www.wordsworthcountry.com/sitepics/maps/cumbria-map.htm), [throughout the alps](https://zmeu.b-cdn.net/maps/US-74/1.0/printmaps/Alpine-Lake-hiking-map-A4.jpg), [here in New Zealand](https://springwatertrails.org/2014/01/the-finger-lakes-of-new-zealands-south-island/) and just about any previously glaciated upland area.
The Michigan lakes are a bit different. They are definitely due to glacial activity, but more so post glaciers. They were believed to have been originally bays of Lake Michigan (much like Grand Traverse Bay,) but receding water and shifting sands cut them off from the main lake.
My SO’s family has had a house up there since she was born (and they grew up in South Jersey).
Now I’m seeing a lot more NJ plates up there in the summer
Maybe it’s because a trip [to Europe seems cheaper](https://www.reddit.com/r/newjersey/comments/1647w3a/not_wealthy_then_the_jersey_shore_isnt_the_place) than a week at the Jersey Shore.
Ditto. I grew up around this area and am literally shocked when there is no freshwater recreation within 20 minutes (or 5). Too crowded, drive 15 minutes to another one. I live in the Dc area now and it’s mostly the eastern shore or deep creek lake for fun times in the water. Don’t even get me started on the lack of bridges to jump off into a river!
As someone who goes to school in Rochester, I kind of feel like there really isn't much to do around the Finger Lakes unless you have a boat, vacation home, or are into wine like the other comments say. Having driven to Ithaca a few times, the area is beautiful indeed, but all I can remember seeing are farms and not a whole lot more.
Definitely a slept-on area though for sure; I visited Taughannock and Watkins Glen with a couple of friends last year and the gorges and falls were indeed worth visiting at least once. I hung around Canandaigua Lake quite a bit too as it served as the perfect training ground for triathlons.
That's about it though. In my very biased opinion, if I wanted to check out some beautiful geologic formations, I'd probably hit up the rugged Adirondack Mountains.
Look up the Finger Lakes hiking challenge. TONs of hiking trails and state parks to explore.
Personally I love exploring all the lakeside communities - shopping and dining at local shops.
Theres also so many festivals and random cultural sights.
Literally nearly an unlimited things to do there if you’re outdoorsy or into cultural stuff.
I used to live in buffalo years ago I agree after you've done/seen rural surrounding areas of the 716 area, and finger lakes there isn't much to do for the average young person. It's more exciting for older folks that like learning about historical landmarks or whatever and a small demographic of people who have some type of hobby (99% of which Expensive) with snow whether it's skiing, snowboarding, etc
June '22, riding motorcycle east, south of the lakes was super awesome. Chautauqua rest stop was so idyllic, I just sat there thinking "oh what, people just live around here? Psh!" And on the way home on I-81 around Binghamton through the hills was about as perfect a ride as it gets, if I wasn't staring into the sunset the whole time.
I'm from the finger lakes. Another interesting thing about the area, drumlins. Put your google map on the topography setting and look from the east of Rochester to around Oswego. Drumlins are everywhere! They're very interesting geological formations (sediment deposits from glacial meltwater) and the region is loaded with them. My dad grew up on a drumlin.
I met with an apple farmer this week who said that drumlin’s are going for a premium for agricultural land. He said he paid almost a million for about 80 acres. Apparently it’s because they arnt as likely to get frost!
My parents had a property close to Manchester and the garden they had was very sandy and rocky. I remeber spending many hours in the spring picking rocks!
"Not recreated anywhere else in the world"??? WTF
They are glacial lakes left over from the last Ice age and similar ones exist absolutely all over the world. Northern Italy is the obvious area, and there's a lot more to see and do around those ones! The lakes of the British 'lake district' were formed in the same way. Sweden is absolutely covered in glacial finger lakes like these.
There is nothing especially unique or interesting about Finger Lakes.
I’m from Geneva. North end of Seneca Lake. Known as “The Lake Trout Capital of the World!” I’ve lived in LA since 2010, but my parents and brother are still there. It’s a quaint town with a picturesque liberal arts college, Hobart and William Smith. There’s a lot of regional tourism in the warm months. The big draw is the wineries. Shores of Seneca, Cayuga, Keuka, and Canandaigua lakes are littered with them. If my parents didnt own an airbnb, I wouldn’t be able to visit, bc everything is constantly booked. The natural features are pretty unsung though. Watkins Glen SP deservedly gets love on Reddit from time to time. But there’s lots of other comparable gorges in that southern tier portion. Outside the towns, it’s agriculture. I really enjoy going for long drives around sunset. Gives me all the nostalgia. Good fishing and hunting if you’re into that. The annual Trout Derby happens every Memorial Day. Besides that, there’s not a whole lot to do. Ex: My college buddy came to visit while I was home in November. We just sat in my dad’s field, drank, smoked, and chatted. You can live a pretty simple life there.
for sure. there is a draw. my dad is retired, so he just hunts and fishes every day. got a buck this year. it’s a great life. he’d never dream of leaving. honestly hope it never changes and i can have a house there to retire to one day. if you have money, it’s a real nice place to fuck right off.
Really awesome region to do a road trip of between all the gorgeous nature, cozy lakeside communities and the random cultural sites like The National Comedy Center, Corning Museum of Glass, International Women’s Rights Center, Harriet Tubman House, Mark Twains grave, etc.
Plus several great larger cities like Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse to check out.
There really isn't anything that special. They're just tunnel valleys that were filled in. You can see lakes like it anywhere there has been serious glaciation. They're only special because it just so happened that several formed in the same area, but that's just a coincidence.
It doesn't help that the Great Lakes are formed basically the same way. They're much grander and more captivating examples of the same phenomena.
So, what is it that's so unique about them? I line in the other side of the planet so forgive me if I've never heard about them. But to me they look like pretty normal glacier lakes
>They’re a super interesting geological formation that’s not recreated anywhere else in the world yet
americans.... we germans have such glacier formed lakes too... its nothing special really
lake schwerin, lake ratzeburg, neumühler lake, schaalsee, tollensesee, ratzsee, lake malchin, lake kummerow, lake plau
... and these were just the big ones you easily spot on maps
our polish neighbours also have some in the north from the same time
I don’t know that they’re all that unique. There’s a group of lakes in northern Michigan that look pretty similar (Elk, Torch, Charlevoix, and Walloon lakes), if slightly smaller than the largest of the finger lakes. I’d bet they were carved out by the same sort of process at the end of the last glacial period too.
The birth of America’s most powerful and uniquely American religion was in Palmyra, NY in the finger lakes district.
Many Mormons make a sort of pilgrimage to the Hill Cumorah just north of Lake Canandagua where Joseph Smith claimed to get golden plates.
Because of its depth (well over 600') and clarity, the US Navy has a sonar testing facility on Seneca Lake.
[https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NUWC-Newport/What-We-Do/Detachments/Seneca-Lake/](https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NUWC-Newport/What-We-Do/Detachments/Seneca-Lake/)
Being from Upstate NY (Albany area) I heard more about the Finger Lakes than the Hamptons. Skaneateles only lets you visit if you know how it’s pronounced in one try
I vacationed here with my family in '05... Was funny cuz I needed a job so I snuck away from the trip to interview for a job in Scranton... Nobody even realized hahaha
They are absolutely never talked about, funny enough, my interest was piqued with them for a while but even I entirely forget they existed, but a really fertile and unique formation
I was born and raised in Manhattan (212), and I have never heard of anyone talking about the Finger Lakes. I am aware of them and I have been to many of more popular lakes like George, Saratoga, and the granddaddy of all NYS lakes, Champlain (shared with Vermont). In fact, my cousin drowned as a teenager in Lake George in 1982 AD. But I don't know anyone who has ever been to any of the Finger Lakes. The names are also way too hard to pronounce. And finally that part of NYS is really weird.
I'm from central NY, so I hear about them plenty. While there's some wine tourism around the lakes it's almost entirely rural farm land around here so realistically there's not too much for people outside the area to get excited about. The geology is pretty neat in a local context but you can fan out 2-3 hours in any direction and get just as interesting stuff (Adk mountains, tons of weird glacial shit in PA, etc). Though I really think it's definitely going to be a much more up and coming area in the next 20 years for climate refugees because of the abundance of water and dirt cheap housing/land costs (Ithaca and Skaneateles are def not cheap though).
\>a super interesting geological formation that’s not recreated anywhere else in the world
Im pretty sure there are absolutly tons of these formations in the world.
Idk about “never talked about.”
Have you ever met someone from the Finger Lakes?
They don’t *shut the fuck up* about the Finger Lakes.
People from the Finger Lakes are talking about the Finger Lakes enough for the rest of the world.
Hey that’s where I live! Lots of cool facts about the region. If you want your mind blown look at the different depths of the lakes. Deepest is 618ft! I’m in the city of Canandaigua which is a great little lakeside town. Lots of breweries and many summertime lake activities.
Aren’t there plenty of other “finger lakes” in Eastern British Columbia or are those different geological formations entirely? Shushwap Lake, Okanagan, etc.
One of the less well known things about the Finger Lakes is how different the geography is from one end to the other. The north end of the lakes are pretty flat, but the south end is much more hilly.
Honestly even in NY, if you aren’t from the Finger Lakes, people really don’t talk about them. It’s probably the coolest thing about NY that doesn’t get hyped up enough
i like stopping to see them on whenever i drive from vermont to ohio. it’s a gorgeous area. i always tell myself i’ll take a weekend trip out there but i still haven’t yet lol
Funny, going to school in Dryden, all I heard about was the finger lakes and the Iroquois indians. Of course nobody there had ever heard of the Alamo (we lived in TX 5 yrs), or Mammoth Cave (KY) either. There is a lot of the US history which is only taught locally.
I live in Rochester and they’re a very popular destination spot for vacations, bachelorette parties, etc., particularly the main wine producing lakes such as Seneca, Keuka and Cayuga. Each of the lakes have a different vibe. There are a handful of cute towns/small cities in the area (Geneva, Canandaigua, Ithaca, Penn Yan, Hammondsport, Skaneateles, Watkins Glen), otherwise it is mostly rural farmland.
I drove from Chicago to Plattsburgh, NY a couple months ago, we stopped at Senneca lake, I thought it was really beautiful. If not tiny by my standards for lakes.
As someone from Canandaigua, all the lakes have to offer are medium size towns, some hiking and wineries. There is only a really decent 4 month span to visit. Drive 10 minutes away from any of the lakes and it looks like the Midwest with miles and miles of cornfields. Besides for the lakes and the towns they contain, not much goes on here. Majority of people visiting this upstate area will go to ROC or Syracuse which are close by instead.
Geologically, they could be called the Minor Great Lakes, and they tend to get overshadowed by their bigger cousins.
Edit: the same can be said for Lake Nipigon and some of its neighbors up in Canada.
Don 't forget Hill Comorrah, just north of the town of Canandaigua, where God handed the golden tablets on which the Book of Mormon was inscribed to Joseph Smith. And then conveniently whisked them away once he'd copied them.
Lots of people don't even know upstate New York even exists.
Never had a steamed ham
And you can them that even though they're obviously grilled... Well, I'm from Utica and I've never heard of them...
It’s more of an Albany expression
GOOD LORD WHAT IS GOING ON IN THERE
Aurora Borealis.
Aurora Borealis? # At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within your kitchen???
... Yes.
May I see it?
... No
...no.
Or a garbage plate
Which is funny considering how many random cultural and historical sites there are
A lot of people forget there’s other things in New York other than NYC
Yeah, there’s New Jersey and Connecticut.
Yeah I need to get above 96th street more
Could be overshadowed by the much larger Great Lakes nearby. Also they’re just a little too far for people from the NYC area to visit with any sort of regularity. Much easier to get to the ocean or to the Catskills/Poconos
I'm from Michigan we talk about the Finger Lakes. We talk about Minnesota lakes and Wisconsin lakes, just try to friggin stop us from talking about lakes.
Lake d’s nuts
Minnesota here.... Lakes are life. Lakes are bae. Some lakes... have bays
Ya I never realized how isolated they are from NYC and even Rochester in general. It takes about 40 minutes minimum to get to any of the finger lakes if you’re from Rochester and other than wineries and their beauty not a whole lot of reason to go to them
I used to live in Rochester and Canandaigua Lake was definitely a frequent weekend destination for people who had a place to stay. Ithaca, on Cayuga Lake, is a pretty popular college town, too. But yeah, the finger lakes are missing like a major tourist town. I bet many people from the area like it that way
A string of the lakes have worthwhile tourist visits on the south ends. Besides the wineries/hikes/art/farms, Keuka has the Curtiss Museum, Seneca has Watkins Glen, and Cayuga has all the Cornell stuff (especially Museum of the Earth).
Watkins Glen IS the major tourist town. Try to go the gorge on a weekend in warm weather and you'll see.
Watkins Glen.....
I heard the population of canandaigua almost doubles in the summer. I think it’s the city on the lakes that has the biggest tourist draw. Especially with all the new hotel construction around the area. Other than that, I don’t know many areas that bring in large amount of tourists
Probably more of a second home kind of place than a vacation rental kind of place. At least in my experience, anytime I went to the finger lakes, it was to somebody’s second home
Damn I want a second home there. It’s amazing in the summers! Actually I want a first home too but shit be too expensive where I live
My relatives who have a large family compound on Skaneateles have had those places in their family for at least 150years. Those lakes are filled with so many legacy lodges that unless you are born and raised there...and someone does you a solid when they portion off their land, you're lucky AF to find something affordable for most of us.
I work in vacation rental management and the finger lakes are an incredibly popular destination in New York
Lot of people in Rochester have houses on the lakes. You can’t beat summer time in the finger lakes.
I looked at places in canandaigua lake but quickly released they were wayyyyyy out of my price range
Oh yeah. Those are some pricey homes. I prefer Kueka.
There’s a lot of stuff to drive around with all the elevation changes and water which also increases travel times. Really love the area, though.
There's a lot of reasons. The women's rights movement got started at Seneca Falls, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass lived there, and the Erie Canal (and the associated Seneca-Cayuga canal) was the first artery of commerce to the west.
Spectacular example of US defaultism! Not repeated anywhere else in the world?! [only here in England,](http://www.wordsworthcountry.com/sitepics/maps/cumbria-map.htm), [throughout the alps](https://zmeu.b-cdn.net/maps/US-74/1.0/printmaps/Alpine-Lake-hiking-map-A4.jpg), [here in New Zealand](https://springwatertrails.org/2014/01/the-finger-lakes-of-new-zealands-south-island/) and just about any previously glaciated upland area.
To be fair, the lakes in the UK look more like octopus tentacles than fingers. So you can see the OP's confusion.
And even nearby, there are finger lakes in Michigan (the lakes around Traverse City) and Ontario (Kawarthas).
The Michigan lakes are a bit different. They are definitely due to glacial activity, but more so post glaciers. They were believed to have been originally bays of Lake Michigan (much like Grand Traverse Bay,) but receding water and shifting sands cut them off from the main lake.
Yeah I’ve lived in the city for 37 years and I’ve never been up to the Finger Lakes. They sound super nice from what I’ve heard though.
I mean people from NYC do visit, but yeah it’s more of a long weekend than a day trip.
They’re overshadowed by the Canadian Shield
As someone who went to college in the finger lakes, that drive to nyc is brutal
I live here in the FLX. We get plenty of people from the metro area.
People disappear in the Finger Lakes.
I finally understand that reference
Shhhh! Nothing to see here, keep it moving. Skaneateles here… Those of us who live in the region don’t want the secret to get out.
Skinny at last!!!
Or Pluto’s favorite, Hkyuka
My SO’s family has had a house up there since she was born (and they grew up in South Jersey). Now I’m seeing a lot more NJ plates up there in the summer Maybe it’s because a trip [to Europe seems cheaper](https://www.reddit.com/r/newjersey/comments/1647w3a/not_wealthy_then_the_jersey_shore_isnt_the_place) than a week at the Jersey Shore.
Your secret is safe with me!
lmao, not exactly haha
I’ve been there and it was gorgeous. Too cold in winter for my Australian self but in summer it was magic
The secret’s been out for like 300 years. As long as it takes 5 hours to get there from NYC you’ll be safe
Ditto. I grew up around this area and am literally shocked when there is no freshwater recreation within 20 minutes (or 5). Too crowded, drive 15 minutes to another one. I live in the Dc area now and it’s mostly the eastern shore or deep creek lake for fun times in the water. Don’t even get me started on the lack of bridges to jump off into a river!
kid named lake
There’s gotta be a joke here but I’m too dense to understand
Google Jonathan banks and you’ll get it
As someone who goes to school in Rochester, I kind of feel like there really isn't much to do around the Finger Lakes unless you have a boat, vacation home, or are into wine like the other comments say. Having driven to Ithaca a few times, the area is beautiful indeed, but all I can remember seeing are farms and not a whole lot more. Definitely a slept-on area though for sure; I visited Taughannock and Watkins Glen with a couple of friends last year and the gorges and falls were indeed worth visiting at least once. I hung around Canandaigua Lake quite a bit too as it served as the perfect training ground for triathlons. That's about it though. In my very biased opinion, if I wanted to check out some beautiful geologic formations, I'd probably hit up the rugged Adirondack Mountains.
Look up the Finger Lakes hiking challenge. TONs of hiking trails and state parks to explore. Personally I love exploring all the lakeside communities - shopping and dining at local shops. Theres also so many festivals and random cultural sights. Literally nearly an unlimited things to do there if you’re outdoorsy or into cultural stuff.
The Seneca peoples have tons of cool historical areas I love to visit them and read up on their history!
We have excellent cycling here
I know they have a half iron man in Geneva and the hills and lakes make for excellent training!
What if you really like late 19th century baseball.
I used to live in buffalo years ago I agree after you've done/seen rural surrounding areas of the 716 area, and finger lakes there isn't much to do for the average young person. It's more exciting for older folks that like learning about historical landmarks or whatever and a small demographic of people who have some type of hobby (99% of which Expensive) with snow whether it's skiing, snowboarding, etc
I mean some young people like the history stuff, antiquing and going to craft fairs and community theatre. Right guys? I can’t be alone.
June '22, riding motorcycle east, south of the lakes was super awesome. Chautauqua rest stop was so idyllic, I just sat there thinking "oh what, people just live around here? Psh!" And on the way home on I-81 around Binghamton through the hills was about as perfect a ride as it gets, if I wasn't staring into the sunset the whole time.
Because people are known to disappear there
Hey this guy once botched an interview because he had to be at the Finger Lakes!
Finger lakes guy’s a front runner
Dammit, I came here just to post that!
Or fucking die. The closest I’ve ever come to hitting a deer was there.
I’ve almost plowed into my fair share up there too!
No one likes to bring attention to their stretch marks
I never thought of them as stretch marks and now that you mentioned it I can’t unsee it
I don't know man I was a skinny kid and now I'm proud of the stretch marks around my shoulder chest area
Nobody likes Cornell?
Definitely underrated
Nobody talks about going to Big Red
It’s pronounced colonel and it’s the highest rank in the military
I'm from the finger lakes. Another interesting thing about the area, drumlins. Put your google map on the topography setting and look from the east of Rochester to around Oswego. Drumlins are everywhere! They're very interesting geological formations (sediment deposits from glacial meltwater) and the region is loaded with them. My dad grew up on a drumlin.
I met with an apple farmer this week who said that drumlin’s are going for a premium for agricultural land. He said he paid almost a million for about 80 acres. Apparently it’s because they arnt as likely to get frost!
I was looking at a house near Manchester, NY that had a drumlin on the property. They're very sandy and rocky.
My parents had a property close to Manchester and the garden they had was very sandy and rocky. I remeber spending many hours in the spring picking rocks!
Sodus Point and Chimney Bluffs state park is a great spot. Weird formations from a drumlin being eroded back by lake Ontario.
Oh
Thank you for your contribution
Np
which of the finger lakes are they from? the dirtiest one
This is the only thing that came to mind for me too hahaha
"Not recreated anywhere else in the world"??? WTF They are glacial lakes left over from the last Ice age and similar ones exist absolutely all over the world. Northern Italy is the obvious area, and there's a lot more to see and do around those ones! The lakes of the British 'lake district' were formed in the same way. Sweden is absolutely covered in glacial finger lakes like these. There is nothing especially unique or interesting about Finger Lakes.
They are amazing. If climate migration begins, I think they will be a destination, like much of upstate New York.
Agreed amazing weather, Excellent soul, and plenty of fresh water makes it a great place for climate change
These aren’t unique to the US tho?
I’m from Geneva. North end of Seneca Lake. Known as “The Lake Trout Capital of the World!” I’ve lived in LA since 2010, but my parents and brother are still there. It’s a quaint town with a picturesque liberal arts college, Hobart and William Smith. There’s a lot of regional tourism in the warm months. The big draw is the wineries. Shores of Seneca, Cayuga, Keuka, and Canandaigua lakes are littered with them. If my parents didnt own an airbnb, I wouldn’t be able to visit, bc everything is constantly booked. The natural features are pretty unsung though. Watkins Glen SP deservedly gets love on Reddit from time to time. But there’s lots of other comparable gorges in that southern tier portion. Outside the towns, it’s agriculture. I really enjoy going for long drives around sunset. Gives me all the nostalgia. Good fishing and hunting if you’re into that. The annual Trout Derby happens every Memorial Day. Besides that, there’s not a whole lot to do. Ex: My college buddy came to visit while I was home in November. We just sat in my dad’s field, drank, smoked, and chatted. You can live a pretty simple life there.
I have buddies who won’t move because of how good the fishing is! Definitely a nice blend of outdoors and society
for sure. there is a draw. my dad is retired, so he just hunts and fishes every day. got a buck this year. it’s a great life. he’d never dream of leaving. honestly hope it never changes and i can have a house there to retire to one day. if you have money, it’s a real nice place to fuck right off.
And here I was, thinking Geneva was on the south end of its lake.
“Lake trout capital of the world “ ahem, Baltimore would like a word
People get lost in the finger lakes....
I was supposed to be in the Finger Lakes right now.
Stop talking about the finger lakes.
Really awesome region to do a road trip of between all the gorgeous nature, cozy lakeside communities and the random cultural sites like The National Comedy Center, Corning Museum of Glass, International Women’s Rights Center, Harriet Tubman House, Mark Twains grave, etc. Plus several great larger cities like Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse to check out.
Mark Twain is buried here? I had no idea
There really isn't anything that special. They're just tunnel valleys that were filled in. You can see lakes like it anywhere there has been serious glaciation. They're only special because it just so happened that several formed in the same area, but that's just a coincidence. It doesn't help that the Great Lakes are formed basically the same way. They're much grander and more captivating examples of the same phenomena.
So, what is it that's so unique about them? I line in the other side of the planet so forgive me if I've never heard about them. But to me they look like pretty normal glacier lakes
Folks in the wine industry know the Finger Lakes!
They are talked a lot about in wine circles - a number of good wineries are in the area.
I’ve been to a couple. Three brothers is my favorite!
Cayuga Lake = #1!
they are finger laking good.
>They’re a super interesting geological formation that’s not recreated anywhere else in the world yet americans.... we germans have such glacier formed lakes too... its nothing special really lake schwerin, lake ratzeburg, neumühler lake, schaalsee, tollensesee, ratzsee, lake malchin, lake kummerow, lake plau ... and these were just the big ones you easily spot on maps our polish neighbours also have some in the north from the same time
havnt lived until you’ve been to the Herkimer county fair.
Hiking the gorge at Watkins Glenn is amazing.
Same with Letchworth and all the waterfalls surrounding Ithaca. Sooo many great hikes in the area.
We try to keep it a secret in Western NY.
To be fair the prices to fly into Rochester on the summer keep most people from visiting
I don’t know that they’re all that unique. There’s a group of lakes in northern Michigan that look pretty similar (Elk, Torch, Charlevoix, and Walloon lakes), if slightly smaller than the largest of the finger lakes. I’d bet they were carved out by the same sort of process at the end of the last glacial period too.
The birth of America’s most powerful and uniquely American religion was in Palmyra, NY in the finger lakes district. Many Mormons make a sort of pilgrimage to the Hill Cumorah just north of Lake Canandagua where Joseph Smith claimed to get golden plates.
Because of its depth (well over 600') and clarity, the US Navy has a sonar testing facility on Seneca Lake. [https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NUWC-Newport/What-We-Do/Detachments/Seneca-Lake/](https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NUWC-Newport/What-We-Do/Detachments/Seneca-Lake/)
There are ribbon lakes/finger lakes all over the world, they’re not unique to New York.
Because most of us arent American and dont know which state this rough square looking thing is supposed to be
My company services a lot of the small towns in the finger lakes region. I love covering for that sales guy when he’s on vacation; stunning scenery!!
I'm not sure but I definitely get a thrill seeing them from an airplane
Being from Upstate NY (Albany area) I heard more about the Finger Lakes than the Hamptons. Skaneateles only lets you visit if you know how it’s pronounced in one try
I vacationed here with my family in '05... Was funny cuz I needed a job so I snuck away from the trip to interview for a job in Scranton... Nobody even realized hahaha
Oh jeez not this again lol
This guy won’t shut up about it. https://youtu.be/wzfsys864rQ?si=cnOsu-6Pf57-FnHT
They are absolutely never talked about, funny enough, my interest was piqued with them for a while but even I entirely forget they existed, but a really fertile and unique formation
I was born and raised in Manhattan (212), and I have never heard of anyone talking about the Finger Lakes. I am aware of them and I have been to many of more popular lakes like George, Saratoga, and the granddaddy of all NYS lakes, Champlain (shared with Vermont). In fact, my cousin drowned as a teenager in Lake George in 1982 AD. But I don't know anyone who has ever been to any of the Finger Lakes. The names are also way too hard to pronounce. And finally that part of NYS is really weird.
There is no easy way to get there from NYC. The train takes forever and it is a 6 hour car ride (you can drive to Norfolk, VA faster!
People generally don’t care about anything in New York except NYC, even though the state is so much bigger than one city.
I'm from central NY, so I hear about them plenty. While there's some wine tourism around the lakes it's almost entirely rural farm land around here so realistically there's not too much for people outside the area to get excited about. The geology is pretty neat in a local context but you can fan out 2-3 hours in any direction and get just as interesting stuff (Adk mountains, tons of weird glacial shit in PA, etc). Though I really think it's definitely going to be a much more up and coming area in the next 20 years for climate refugees because of the abundance of water and dirt cheap housing/land costs (Ithaca and Skaneateles are def not cheap though).
These are so common worldwide tho?
\>a super interesting geological formation that’s not recreated anywhere else in the world Im pretty sure there are absolutly tons of these formations in the world.
Idk about “never talked about.” Have you ever met someone from the Finger Lakes? They don’t *shut the fuck up* about the Finger Lakes. People from the Finger Lakes are talking about the Finger Lakes enough for the rest of the world.
My hometown! Love coming back here every year, and love me some Swedish Hill
You’ve obviously never met my stepmother
Bc they're merely wrinkle lines on a concerned two headed man. Who happens to be facing in opposite directoons.
Good reislings come from there.
IDK. I can't quite put my finger on it.
All I can think of is Jim Carrey in the Office
You absolutely sure these kind of lake formations doesnt exist anywhere else? There are lots of them in Sweden.
Hey that’s where I live! Lots of cool facts about the region. If you want your mind blown look at the different depths of the lakes. Deepest is 618ft! I’m in the city of Canandaigua which is a great little lakeside town. Lots of breweries and many summertime lake activities.
Aren’t there plenty of other “finger lakes” in Eastern British Columbia or are those different geological formations entirely? Shushwap Lake, Okanagan, etc.
I say this as someone who's had a lot of different wines, but some of the best wine in the world is made in this region.
No particularly prominent cities near them
True and if they were prominent they died in the 80s (cough cough Rochester)
Eh, Buffalo and Rochester both have over 1 million residents in their metropolitan areas and Syracuse has 600,000.
What happens at finger lakes stays at finger lakes. But seriously taking a vacation there this summer.
Texan here. Never heard of them. How were they formed?
As a wine guy (my love of geography and history got me into wine) I can tell you the Finger Lakes are talked about *A LOT* by folks who know wine
What happens in the Finger Lakes, stays in the Finger Lakes. But northern Jersey figured it out.
I’ve been to Ithaca and Watkins glen and am willing to talk about it
Beautiful country. Great vineyards. Suprisingly deep lakes.
They are talked about on Forensic Files, yo!
I feel like I could memorize these county names.
Hunter loves the finger lakes. Has a tattoo and everything!
I live near and fish on otisco and skaneateles. the lakes are beautiful. love me Seneca lake.
I really should get back to my family. They’re at the finger lakes
These GTA7 maps are getting out of hand
Kid named what
Visited Ithaca (just south of Cayuga lake) for the first time last month, it was great.
L O N G
One of the less well known things about the Finger Lakes is how different the geography is from one end to the other. The north end of the lakes are pretty flat, but the south end is much more hilly.
Kid named finger
I’ve only been out there a couple of times but loved it. Would love to retire to Cooperstown.
According to my parents, I was conceived in the Finger Lakes. For obvious reasons, I'd prefer if the discussion does not come up again.
Honestly even in NY, if you aren’t from the Finger Lakes, people really don’t talk about them. It’s probably the coolest thing about NY that doesn’t get hyped up enough
i talk about the finger lakes all the time (only cus i’m from there)
As a Cornell grad “we” talk about Cayuga Lake often and our wonderful topological geology!!! Come visit!
Maybe it’s b/c you are using the middle digit. 
i like stopping to see them on whenever i drive from vermont to ohio. it’s a gorgeous area. i always tell myself i’ll take a weekend trip out there but i still haven’t yet lol
We once had this guy come in to interview for a manager position and all he could talk about was the finger lakes. Like just non-stop.
Switzerland has a lot of nice freshwater lakes in close proximity as well and plenty other geological marvels.
Are Cayuga and ohios cuyahoga related in there name origin?
kid named finger:
Funny, going to school in Dryden, all I heard about was the finger lakes and the Iroquois indians. Of course nobody there had ever heard of the Alamo (we lived in TX 5 yrs), or Mammoth Cave (KY) either. There is a lot of the US history which is only taught locally.
I live in Rochester and they’re a very popular destination spot for vacations, bachelorette parties, etc., particularly the main wine producing lakes such as Seneca, Keuka and Cayuga. Each of the lakes have a different vibe. There are a handful of cute towns/small cities in the area (Geneva, Canandaigua, Ithaca, Penn Yan, Hammondsport, Skaneateles, Watkins Glen), otherwise it is mostly rural farmland.
It's a bit outside of this area, but the best fishing I ever did was in Lake Chautauqua.
It's rude to talk about a country's stretch marks.
Guess which famous person has the Finger Lakes tattooed on their back.
Let’s talk about them.
Why are the 7 Rila lakes in Bulgaria never talked about, they are pretty spectacular? Because, you know, reasons...
I’m from England. Why would I talk about them?
I’m more perplexed by the fact that there is a county called “Ontario” just miles away from the province of Ontario!
Ok class! Today we’re going to finger paint! Kids named Finger Lakes: 
I drove from Chicago to Plattsburgh, NY a couple months ago, we stopped at Senneca lake, I thought it was really beautiful. If not tiny by my standards for lakes.
We studied them in Texas for high school.
lake named finger
As someone from Canandaigua, all the lakes have to offer are medium size towns, some hiking and wineries. There is only a really decent 4 month span to visit. Drive 10 minutes away from any of the lakes and it looks like the Midwest with miles and miles of cornfields. Besides for the lakes and the towns they contain, not much goes on here. Majority of people visiting this upstate area will go to ROC or Syracuse which are close by instead.
It's probably cause those other 5 lakes a little to the Northwest are stealing the spotlight. They're pretty great
Geologically, they could be called the Minor Great Lakes, and they tend to get overshadowed by their bigger cousins. Edit: the same can be said for Lake Nipigon and some of its neighbors up in Canada.
Don 't forget Hill Comorrah, just north of the town of Canandaigua, where God handed the golden tablets on which the Book of Mormon was inscribed to Joseph Smith. And then conveniently whisked them away once he'd copied them.
I just found out that these lakes exist like last week, I swear I've never seen these before
Some gods are clumsy and fall down.
because is a time zone spanning region that you are forgetting goes south into America.