- This is one of the nation's most extensively preserved country estates from the Victorian era. This 50 acre site features beautiful formal and informal gardens, a historic mansion, the Lord & Burnham greenhouse complex and beautiful views of Canandaigua Lake.

Sonnenberg's magnificent Queen Anne style mansion, the former summer home of Frederick Ferris and Mary Clark Thompson, was built in 1887. The surrounding gardens were developed between 1902 and 1920 and reflect a variety of styles, including Victorian, Italian, Colonial, and Japanese influences.

Located in the heart of New York's Finger Lakes wine region, the historic park is also home to the Finger Lakes Wine Center. This facility is open to the public during the Sonnenberg garden season; visitors may also enjoy tasting tours and private parties.

Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park is the perfect place for a wedding or other family gatherings. The site hosts a variety of popular events throughout the season, including the annual Orchid Show, Rose Week, Moonlight Strolls, Teddy Bear Party and the annual Arts At The Gardens show. Tours of both the gardens and the mansion are also available from May through Septembe

Ganondagan State Historic Site

Ganondagan State Historic Site is the location of a major 17th-century Seneca town and palisaded granary. Three hundred years ago, near Ganondagan, the French led an army from Canada against the Seneca to annihilate them and eliminate them as competitors in the international fur trade. The Seneca refer to Ganondagan as the Town of Peace and revere and protect the burial site of the Mother of Nations here.

Illustrated signs mark the three trails where visitors can learn about the significance of plant life to the Seneca, about Iroquois customs and beliefs, and about the features of Fort Hill (the granary) and the events that occurred there. A traditional Seneca longhouse has been completed and open to the public. Please call the site for details.

Stony Brook State Park

Stony Brook State Park's terrain comprises hilly woodlands, a deep gorge with rugged cliffs overlooking three waterfalls and fascinating rock formations. 125 tent and trailer campsites are scattered in the woodlands above the gorge in the upper or south end of the park. Visitors can hike rim, gorge or nature trails, play tennis on park courts, picnic or swim in the park's stream-fed pool. In winter, three miles of cross-country trails are available for skiers. Some winter hiking is allowed, but not on the gorge trails.

Watkins Glen State Park

Named in 2005 as one of Reserve America's Top Outdoor Locations and one of the Top 100 Campgrounds in the nation.
Watkins Glen State Park is the most famous of the Finger Lakes State Parks, with a reputation for leaving visitors spellbound. Within two miles, the glen's stream descends 400 feet past 200-foot cliffs, generating 19 waterfalls along its course. The gorge path winds over and under waterfalls and through the spray of Cavern Cascade. Rim trails overlook the gorge. Campers and day-visitors can enjoy the Olympic-size pool, scheduled summer tours through the gorge, tent and trailer campsites, picnic facilities and excellent fishing in nearby Seneca Lake or Catherine Creek, which is renowned for its annual spring run of rainbow trout.

Mark Twain State Park and Soaring Eagles Golf Course

Named for the great 19th-century author who spent summers in the area, Mark Twain State Park is the home of one of the most scenic and challenging 18-hole courses in the area. The course has a unique 18-hole design with only two parallel holes. The excellent conditions for this course were created thousands of years ago by a retreating glacier which laid down hundreds of feet of sand, gravel and silt. Buried ice blocks slowly melted, leaving water-filled depressions or "kettle ponds" on the course.

Taughannock Falls State Park

Taughannock Falls State Park's namesake waterfall is one of the outstanding natural attractions of the Northeast. Taughannock Falls plunges 215 feet past rocky cliffs that tower nearly 400 feet above the gorge. Gorge and rim trails offer spectacular views from above the falls and from below at the end of the gorge trail. Campsites and cabins overlook Cayuga Lake, with marina, boat launch and beach nearby. A multi-use trail--hiking, cross-country skiing--winds past sledding slopes and natural skating ponds. Boat Launch Site not suitable for any type of sailboat. The park also offers organized activities including tours through the Taughannock Gorge and summer concerts along the lakefront.

Fair Haven Beach State Park

Fair Haven Beach State Park has one of the finest public lakefronts in upstate New York, with high bluffs above sandy beaches and hilly woodlands. Inland, there is Sterling Pond, surrounded by campsites and cabins, eight of the latter winterized. The park also offers three Full Service Accomodations which provide guests with a shower, refrigerator, a range, a microwave, pillows, bedding, cooking utensils, dishes and a coffee maker. The swimming and fishing are excellent. Rowboats, paddleboats and canoes are for rent and the park has a boat launch and a recreation building. The recreation building is available for rental.

The Taft and Young vacation rentals are located within the park. They include a refrigerator, cooking stove, wall outlets, furniture, two double beds, four twin beds, hot shower and fireplace. Outside each cottage, is a picnic table and fire ring. Bedding, pillows, dishes and cooking utensils are not provided.

Fillmore Glen State Park

Named in 2007 as one of the Top 100 Campgrounds in the Nation.
Fillmore Glen State Park is an oasis of cool, dense woods crowding into a long, narrow gorge. Its hiking trails offer spectacular views, unique geological formations, including five waterfalls, and a botanically rich glen. The park has 60 campsites, a stream-fed swimming pool and fishing in the Owasco Lake inlet. In the winter, hiking, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling are permitted on unplowed roads.

For those who prefer the luxuries of home, the park offers a full service cottage located on the shore of Cayuga Lake at Long Point. Cottage amenities include a kitchen with a gas stove, refrigerator, sink, full bath, hot water; electricity, bedroom with double bed and dressers, main room with a sleeper sofa, furniture, dining table with chairs, a wood stove, boat dock, picnic table, fire ring and grill and a small lawn area.

Seneca River Crossing Canals Historic District

The Seneca River Crossing Canals Historic District, listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2006, is significant in illustrating one hundred years of canal engineering in New York State. The 70 acre district on the Seneca River in the towns of Montezuma and Tyre contains intact portions of the original 1817-1825 Erie Canal, the Cayuga & Seneca Canal (an early lateral canal), the 1835-1862 enlarged Erie Canal and the 1905-1918 New York State Barge Canal as well as the archaeological remains of a lock tender's house and a commercial drydock. The Richmond Aqueduct, built in 1849-1857 and partially dismantled in 1917 is the centerpiece of this district. Named for canal engineer Van R. Richmond, the aqueduct, as originally built, was almost 900 feet in length and 86 feet in width. Its towpath was carried above a Roman-inspired limestone structure comprised of 31 massive arches. Nine of these arches and their related piers and abutments remain today.