Robert H. Treman State Park New York, Hiking, Trails, Pictures, Movies and Maps

Robert H. Treman State Park contain gorge landscape unique amoung State Parks. It is actually a combination of an old and new gorge. At the end of the most recent ice age, debris from the melting glacier filled in a pre-existing gorge. As you hike through the wide and wooded two mile section of the lower gorge trail, you will be in the old gorge, unearthed by Enfield Creek since the end of the last ice age. As you reach the narrow, rocky 1/4 mile section near the upper park, you will be in the new gorge. The new gorge was created when the creek rerouted its path and carved through hillside bedrock, instead of continuing to unearth the old gorge. The cool moist and shaded environment of the glen supports a rich variety of ferns, mosses and wildflowers as well as trees and shrubs.

Sparkling lakes, breathtaking waterfalls and rolling pastoral land dominate the landscape of the Finger Lakes Region. Over thousands of years, gigantic glaciers and coursing streams carved this landscape shared by generations of people. Located a short distance southwest of Cayuga Lake, Robert H. Treman State Park is one of 26 facilities of the Finger Lakes State Parks Region where you can enjoy these treasured landscapes and discover the lives of people of the past.

This park features a spectacular gorge with rocky and wooded sections, home to the 115 foot Lucifer Falls. You can experience the park's rich scenery along hiking trails in and around the gorge, in the natural swimming pool and at scenic picnic areas.

Water has shaped the natural landscape of the park. During the past million years, water in the form of giant mounds of ice, or glaciers, covered New york State several times, dramatically transforming the land in its path. In this region, the most recent glacier moved through shallow river valleys leaving in its place deep, steep-sided throughs. When the glacier receded north about 10,000 years ago, water filled these new troughs, creating the 11 Finger Lakes. Since then, water in the form of Enfield Creek has poured down the glacially-steepened hillside, cutting away its soft sedimentary rock. This on-going process has formed the park's gorge and spectacular waterfalls.

The Finger Lakes State Parks of New York are the most dazzling and mesmerizing series of waterfall bonanzas that I've ever Hiked. I wondered, how could awesome natural beauty like this have been created. Once again the answer came with a little basic Geology. The many waterfalls are left over from the last ice age. Mother Nature sculptured out her master pieces using time, cold weather,heavy ice, water and gravity. I wish I could have been around all those years to witness it.

For more information about the Finger Lakes New York State Parks go to Finger Lakes State Parks.