Watkins Glen State Park
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Instead of Watkins Glen State Park this article should really be
titled "the time I thought I was going to be kidnapped and
murdered." Of all the places I have gone alone this is one of the only
places I have ever been truly frightened (I was legit shaking after
I made it back to my car). What happened in this park was something
my family really didn't appreciate and made my dad question
whether he would let me travel alone again.
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Watkins Glen State Park is located in Watkins Glen, NY and is the
most famous of the Finger Lakes State Parks. I visited this park
in September 2020 and had initially planned on allowing at least
half a day to explore it. However, after my visit to Niagara Falls
lasted hours longer than anticipated I didn’t have time to do some
of the other things I had planned for that day and decided to just head
straight to Watkins Glen and do some evening hiking. I arrived at
the park about an hour before sunset and thought I would have enough
time to hike the Gorge Trail (1.5 miles one way)
before the sun went down. Spoiler alert….I was wrong.
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Main Entrance
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Before I set out on my hike through the park I came across a
sign on the main entrance billboard that said the Gorge trail
had been turned into a one way trail due to COVID and that
when you reached a certain fork you were to take this
connecting trail back to the main entrance instead of turning
around and going back the way you came. This was the
second thing that led to what could have been my own true crime story.
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The hike through Watkins Glen was absolutely gorgeous
especially with the fall colors that were just starting to appear
throughout the park. I saw multiple waterfalls, walked across
some beautiful stone bridges, and even through
some semi creepy yet cool passageways.
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The sun continued to make its way closer to the horizon as
I came to a fork in the trail. I figured this was the spot the main entrance talked about
where I was supposed to take a connecting trail to return to there
via the new COVID one way route. I was expecting to
see trail marker signs when I arrived at this point however there
was nothing. Just one trail that branched left and one trail that
branched right. I whipped my head back and forth looking between
the two trails with every minute I spent standing there taking more
and more of my precious daylight away. Then, I saw a group of
people up ahead on the left trail. If they were all going that way, the
best guess is that it must be the way back to the
main entrance. So, I followed them.
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The trail led me through the park with a dense forest of trees
on my right and a steep rocky dropoff on my left. I came around
the corner and my steps stuttered. In front of me was a parking
lot, but not the parking lot where I had parked my car. I could
feel the panic start to rise inside of me. I walked from one end
of the parking lot to the other looking for the spot where the trail
continued. Looking for anything that would tell me where I was
and more importantly tell me that I was on the right path.
Unfortunately, that is not what I found. On a billboard at the
end of the parking lot was a map and a sign stating I was at the
South Entrance of Watkins Glen. The park had two entrances
and I, little miss researcher/miss prepared for everything, did
not know about this going into the park. I was miles from my car
and by this point the sun had officially set and I was left standing
alone in the middle of the parking lot, with no cell
service, engulfed by the darkness.
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Panic, dread, and just pure terror filled my body. As I speed
walked back across the parking lot to the trail I got out my phone
and recorded a Marco Polo for my friends in case anything were
to happen to me. I told them where I was, what had happened, and
that I loved them and my family. Maybe I was being a bit dramatic, but
dammit this was how almost every true crime story starts!
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Using my phone as a flashlight I began to lightly jog back down
the trail which was filled with huge tree roots that could cause an
ankle sprain/fracture at any moment with just one wrong step. I could
barely see a few feet in front of me. It was so dark, but I could just make out
something moving on the trail ahead of me. Something big. I slowed
down to a walk and as I got closer and could make out the shape I knew
what it was….it was two people. Actually, it was two men. Walking alone
together in the dark of night in the woods WITHOUT A FLASHLIGHT.
And my true crime narrative continues.
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I figured there were two reasons why they might be out in the woods
without a flashlight. 1) They were on the hunt for stupid girls like
me who managed to get themselves lost in the woods after dark so
they could rape and kill them, or 2) they knew the park extremely
well and didn’t need a flashlight. It was a lot harder to believe option
2. However, I decided to take a chance and ask them for directions
when I finally reached them. And that was the moment that my night
really took a turn, a turn my dad wished it had never come to.
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These two guys informed me they had no idea where the main
entrance was and that they weren’t even from New York. They
were visiting just like me and were out on the trail because they
were looking for their friend who had run off. Interesting...warning
bells activated. Then, we continued to talk a little and they informed
me that their car was parked in the parking lot I had just come
from and they could give me a ride to my car if I wanted. SUS SUS
SUS. DANGER WILL ROBINSON. They could tell I was distressed and
tried to calm me down saying they were with a group of people and
that it was okay...they weren’t bad people. At that moment I had
two choices. Walk back alone in the dark woods for God knows how
long looking for the main entrance or accept a ride from these two
strangers and potentially be kidnapped, raped, killed, who knows. I
wasn’t getting a bad feeling from them although neither did Ted Bundy’s
wife or BTK’s family. I looked down the trail leading into the black
black night listening to the sounds of animals in the woods then looked
back to the guys. Y’all…..I took the ride.
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And she was never heard from again.
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Well...okay...I guess that doesn’t really work here, but that could
have been the way this story went and my family spent a lot of time
reminding me of that after hearing about this.
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What actually happened was that I walked back to the parking lot
with these two guys, met their group of friends that they were traveling
with, including their missing friend, (who they tried to exchange me out for...story for another time lol), and
then I hopped into the backseat of one of their cars and allowed them
to drive me back to mine. They were all extremely nice and I made it
back safe and sound. Shaking, but safe. So shout out
to Paul, Jessie, Dave, and your whole group for getting
me back to my car in one piece.
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I am extremely lucky that that is how everything worked out and
I can promise you I will never be taking chances like
that again. (Although it does make for a good story. lol)
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PHOTO DUMP
Like seriously. Think of how amazing it would be to have a photoshoot here.
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Aside from getting lost and putting my life in the hands of strangers
I really enjoyed my time in Watkins Glen State Park. It was absolutely
gorgeous and I am so happy I got to see it in the fall. I highly
recommend a stop here especially when you have time to
explore and aren’t rushed by the setting sun.
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