Stone-cut steps take you down the Gorge Trail at Watkins Glen State Park, mist coming off Cavern Cascade. The path ducks behind the falls and under them, stone wet underfoot the whole way. Glen Creek has sawed a tight slot through the rock, and spray hits your shins before the next drop comes into view. You sleep above that cut in the park campground on Seneca Lake, and walk down in the morning before the gorge lot fills.
In the Cayuga Village loop the back-in pads run 20 to 40 feet, and reservations open up to nine months ahead. Book the site first, then the van. If you need more sleeping space or a longer rig than those pads, look at RV rentals in the Finger Lakes.
Camping on these lakes runs mid-May through mid-October, and outside that window there is no site to book.
Taughannock Falls State Park
The gorge trail ends in a stone amphitheater, the falls coming at you in a single plunge you see head-on. Campgrounds and cabins look out on Cayuga Lake, so you sleep on the water and walk in for the falls. Reserve that site or cabin before you book the van.
The Ithaca gorges at Robert H. Treman and Buttermilk Falls
Robert H. Treman State Park and Buttermilk Falls State Park split the gorges around Ithaca, and each one has a campground with electric sites. Treman follows Enfield Glen through a string of falls, Lucifer Falls among them, and the campground takes tents and RVs. Buttermilk's campground is in the lower park, below the falls and the natural pool.
Sampson, Keuka Lake, and Cayuga Lake State Parks
When Watkins Glen is full, Sampson State Park takes the overflow on Seneca's east shore, an electric campground with a marina on the same lake as the gorge. It closes in late September for the park's dog show, so those nights need a different pad.
Keuka Lake State Park puts you on the wine lake with electric hookups on an improved loop. The Seneca Lake Wine Trail is the day from Watkins Glen or from Sampson if you would rather sleep on Seneca.
Cayuga Lake State Park spreads along the flat shore of the same lake as Taughannock. Campsites and cabins slope down to the water, and the park has a boat launch.
Corning's glass museum is a day south of Seneca, and Hammondsport is the village day on Keuka, with Geneva and Canandaigua on the remaining lakes. Letchworth State Park is the Rochester trip, and Green Lakes State Park and Skaneateles are the Syracuse overnights.
Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen International sells camping inside the track on race weekends. Seneca Camping is behind the grandstand at Turn 1, with water and electric at the site. Those weekends collide with every campground on this circuit, so book the overnight before you buy the ticket.