10 Overlooked Towns In Upstate New York Worth Visiting
Ask a New Yorker where to spend a weekend Upstate, and the answer usually stops at Saratoga Springs or Cooperstown. The better day is often one town over. Trumansburg has a gorge waterfall that drops farther than Niagara. Down on the Hudson, you can walk out of Catskill straight across the river to a painter’s hilltop estate built around one of the valley’s great views. The ten towns below sit that close to a famous neighbor, near enough to slip into a trip that is already on the calendar, and each one has enough of its own to fill the day.
Bemus Point
On the Fourth of July, two villages on Chautauqua Lake, in the far southwest corner of the state, set off fireworks at 10 p.m., both shows timed to music. In Bemus Point, the shells go up from barges in Bemus Bay, and the show can be watched from the village park, along Lakeside Drive, or from a boat or a dock. The other show is across the water in Mayville.
The Chautauqua Institution, on the western shore, is the lake's best-known address. Bemus Point is on the eastern shore at the narrows, where the Bemus Point-Stow Ferry, a cable-guided barge that holds up to six cars, covers the 937 feet between its landings in under 15 minutes. It runs seasonally, and in 2025 it crossed on Friday evenings and from noon on weekends. On the Bemus side, the jumbo cinnamon rolls at the Bemus Point Inn on Main Street are the breakfast to order, and Bemus Bay Water Toys rents kayaks, paddleboards, and pontoons. Long Point State Park, less than two miles away, has a sandy beach and a marina.
Lewiston
North of Buffalo, the jet boats at Lewiston run the stretch of the Niagara River below the falls, which are about a 20-minute drive south on the Niagara Scenic Parkway. Riders check in at 115 South Water Street, and the 45-minute trip heads up the gorge to the Whirlpool, then comes back down through the Class 5 rapids at Devil's Hole. On the open Wet Jet boats, every seat gets soaked, so a dry change of clothes in the car is a good idea. The 2026 season ran from late April to mid-October.
Center Street, the village's main street, is lined with brick and white clapboard buildings, and Tin Pan Alley serves classic American food, and Griffon Brewery and Gastropub has craft beer. Lewiston Landing Waterfront Park, the village's public access to the river, has boat launches and fishing charters. At Artpark, a state park on South 4th Street that overlooks the Niagara Gorge, rock and pop concerts fill the amphitheater mostly in June, July, and August, and the River's Edge Trail goes down two staircases to the water for fishing.
Penn Yan
Keuka Lake drains out of its north end at Penn Yan, and the Keuka Outlet Trail follows that outlet from the village to Dresden, on Seneca Lake. The first stretch is paved through Penn Yan, and farther on the surface changes to stone dust, then gravel, then worn single track, which is why mountain bikes are the recommended ride. Seneca Mill Falls, at about the midpoint, is where many people stop to look at the falls and have a picnic, and Cascade Mill Falls is on a flat, easy section. At Dresden, the trail comes out at the inlet on Seneca Lake, so a one-way trip connects two of the Finger Lakes. In winter, the same path is used for cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.
Back in the village, Red Jacket Park and Indian Pines Park have swimming areas on Keuka, and the Windmill Farm & Craft Market, just south on Route 14A, opens more than 175 indoor and outdoor shops on Saturdays through November. Keuka Lake State Park, six miles west, has a swimming beach, a boat launch, and eight hiking trails.
Trumansburg
A Wednesday in Trumansburg, one lake past Seneca on the west side of Cayuga Lake, can start at the bottom of a waterfall. Taughannock Falls State Park is 3 miles from the village and 8 from Ithaca, and its Gorge Trail is a flat walk of about three-quarters of a mile to the base of a 215-foot drop. By lunch, Gimme Coffee on Main Street has its balcony and patio over the creek, and the French toast at Creekside Cafe comes with cinnamon-coconut sugar. Frontenac Point Vineyard & Estate Winery pours wine flights with local cheeses on a covered deck in the afternoon. At 4 p.m., the Trumansburg Farmers Market sets up in the village park on the west end of the business district, and Garrett's Brewing Company, at 1 West Main, has house-brewed beer and local cider to end the day.
Owego
The Southern Tier village of Owego, south of Ithaca, backs onto the Susquehanna River. The Riverwalk runs along the water behind downtown, a landscaped path between Draper Park and Ahwaga Park, and it connects parks, restaurants, and shops along the waterfront.
Up on Front Street, Victorian storefronts hold Riverow Bookshop and Spellbound Books, two minutes apart on foot, and Spellbound runs workshops that include potion making. The Early Owego Antique Center has more than 90 vendor booths. Every June, the Owego Strawberry Festival draws more than 20,000 people for a downtown block party with fireworks and a Saturday parade, and on any evening, The Cellar Restaurant & Lounge on Front Street has velvet booths and amber lighting.
Cazenovia
A lot of Cazenovia is free, including the July concert by The Syracuse Orchestra, which comes 20 miles east from Syracuse to play on the front lawn of Lorenzo State Historic Site, at the south end of Cazenovia Lake. The lawn fills quickly, so arriving half an hour early is worth it. Thursday concerts at Lakeland Park, on the lake, are free from June through August, and in mid-July the Lorenzo Driving Competition brings horse-and-carriage teams to the same grounds, also at no charge.
Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, about two miles from the village, asks only a suggested $5 donation. Its 104 acres hold four miles of trails with outdoor sculpture along the way, and the trails are open from dawn to dusk. The Cazenovia Lavender Festival at Farmstead 1868 brings live music and about 30 vendors in July, and Morse Kayak Rentals puts single and double kayaks on Cazenovia Lake.
Little Falls
Renting a canoe or kayak at the marina in Rotary Park is a good way to start in Little Falls, a small city on the Mohawk River east of Utica, where the Erie Canal runs through town. Rentals are available while the canal is open, and a paddle up to Lock E18 and back covers 6.2 miles. The Erie Canalway Trail passes through as well, for anyone who would rather ride.
On land, the trails on Moss Island begin at Lock E17. The main trail is an easy hike of about an hour, suitable for children with supervision, and the island's cliffs draw rock climbers. Buttermilk Falls Park, in the city, is built around a 50-foot waterfall.
Canal Place has an antiques center and boutique shops in two stone mills, along with the Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts, and Rock Valley Brewing Company pours its own beer in town. On the first Saturday in October, the Little Falls Cheese Festival brings nearly 90 New York vendors and more than 120 artisan cheeses, and Christmas in Little Falls is held on the second weekend of December.
Sharon Springs
Fresh-baked bread and apple cider donuts are the reason to stop at the Black Cat Cafe on Main Street in Sharon Springs, a village about an hour west of Albany and about ten miles from Howe Caverns. Most of the village's shopping is on the same street. The Beekman 1802 shop at 187 Main Street sells goat-milk skin care, and it also stocks artisan foods for the kitchen. Austintacious Handmade Truffles & Chocolates and Cupcake-ology are a short walk away, and Klinkhart Hall Arts Center holds free events throughout the year. On Route 20, Dairyland, a roadside ice cream stand, has a sign on its roof of a kid licking a cone.
Cambridge
Every June, hot-air balloons lift off from the grounds of Cambridge Central School, on Route 22 near the Vermont line, during the Cambridge Balloon Festival. There are four launches over the weekend when the weather allows. On Saturday night, the Moon Glow lights up tethered balloons from 9 to 10 p.m., and fireworks follow at The Mansion Park. The final launch goes up on Sunday at 5:30 a.m.
Saratoga Springs is 45 minutes away, close enough that a Sunday morning there can end at the Cambridge Valley Farmers Market, which runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., May through October, at Owlkill Commons on West Main Street by the green footbridge. Round House Bakery and Canteen Coffee Co. are in the village, and Hubbard Hall, a 19th-century opera house on East Main Street, stages theater, opera, and music. Battenkill Valley Outdoors runs canoe and kayak trips on the Battenkill River, and the Buskirk Covered Bridge crosses the Hoosic River off Route 67, south of the village.
Catskill
The Rip Van Winkle Bridge carries Route 23 across the Hudson River from the city of Hudson to the village of Catskill, and a walkway runs along its 5,041-foot length. The Hudson River Skywalk uses it to link Olana State Historic Site, on the Hudson side, with Thomas Cole National Historic Site on Spring Street in Catskill, a six-mile walk out and back. On the bridge, the path is less than six feet wide, with the river below on one side and traffic on the other.
The grounds of the Thomas Cole site are free and open every day. In November and December 2026, the house and studios are open for self-guided visits Friday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with the last entry at 2.
In the village, Catskill Point is where Catskill Creek meets the Hudson, with marinas and a view of the bridge, and Frank Guido's Port of Call serves dinner beside the docks. On Main Street, artisans make porcelain tableware in view of customers at L&M Studio. Across the creek, the RamsHorn-Livingston Sanctuary has a two-mile walk through forest, ponds, and wetlands.
In November, several of these towns are between seasons. The Bemus Point ferry is done until spring, Lewiston's jet boats are off the river until late April, and canoe rentals in Little Falls end when the canal closes. Others keep going into the holidays. The Windmill market south of Penn Yan stays open on Saturdays through November. Thomas Cole's house and studios in Catskill are open Friday through Sunday through December, and Christmas in Little Falls is held on the second weekend of that month. Next June brings the balloons back to Cambridge and the Strawberry Festival back to Owego. A trip built around Niagara Falls can take in Lewiston for about 20 minutes of driving each way, and a weekend in Saratoga Springs leaves room for the 45-minute drive to Cambridge for the Sunday market.
