New York State Parks posted the Gorge Trail's 2026 closing date on September 25. The trail at Watkins Glen State Park closes for the season on October 25, and it could close sooner if the gorge gets several overnight lows in the 30s first. The park's shuttle runs on weekends only after Labor Day, and its posted end date is "Mid Oct. 2026." So the season ends in two steps. Once the shuttle stops, every gorge walk is a round trip, and for most people who live around the south end of Seneca Lake, the easiest place to start is the North Franklin Street entrance. That entrance has a new bridge, and this is its first fall.
Those last open weeks fall on the stretch of the park that was missing for most of the past five years.
Five Years Without the Front Door
The Sentry Bridge sits at the main entrance, where the Gorge Trail leaves the village. WENY reported that park staff first saw in 2021 that the rock under the old bridge had shifted and become unsafe, and a temporary safety bridge went up in 2022. The original crossing dated to 1908. It was concrete faced with stone, and a state study of the site found that the rock conditions called for a full replacement rather than a repair. When the $7.5 million project was announced in October 2024, Watkins Glen Mayor Laurie DeNardo called the state's investment long awaited and called the park integral to the community.
Crews started removing the old bridge on July 7, 2025. For the next year, the tunnel entrance and the South Rim Trail access at the main entrance were closed. If you started on Franklin Street, you climbed the North Rim Trail and joined the gorge farther upstream. The South and North entrances, plus the shuttle, were the other ways in. The detour got people into the gorge, but it skipped the entrance from the village.
The new bridge opened in early July 2026. WENY reports that the state set the construction schedule so the whole Gorge Trail would be open over Independence Day weekend in both 2025 and 2026. So fall 2025 was a detour season, and fall 2026 is the first autumn in years that you can walk the full gorge from the village end.
"This is a focal point of the community where we invite those from the world, the country, and even regionally."
Ronald Roney, park manager, Watkins Glen State Park, speaking to WENY at the reopening
What the New Span Changes at the Entrance
The new Sentry Bridge is stainless steel. It was designed by a team led by the New York studios of schlaich bergermann partner and Snøhetta. According to State Parks, it weighs about 100 tons less than the old structure, so it puts much less load on the surrounding rock. It uses a half-arch so that its main foundation rests on the stronger north wall of the gorge. Its deck surface is designed to reduce congestion and improve pedestrian flow. Some of the old structure is still there. Stone salvaged from the 1908 arch was used in the kneewalls on the approach.
The work was done regionally. Fred Bonn, regional director of the Finger Lakes state park system, told WENY that Twin Tiers Construction of Waverly was the general contractor and that LMC Industrial Contractors of Dansville built the bridge.
With the entrance open again, the full route is back. State Parks says all 19 waterfalls can be reached again, including the spray of Cavern Cascade and the 120-step Couch's Staircase, which connects to the trails toward the South Pavilion and the swimming pool. Glen Creek drops nearly 400 feet over two miles through the park. If you walk in from Franklin Street and back out the same way, you walk that drop both ways.
The Season Shuts Down in Stages
The park's posted schedule doesn't close everything on one date. Each service has its own end date, and the order matters if you're planning a walk this month:
- Shuttle bus: $6 per person each way. It runs between the Main entrance at 1009 N. Franklin St., the South entrance at 3530 Route 419, and the Upper entrance at 3310 Route 409. Since September 8 it has run on weekends only, and its posted end is mid-October 2026.
- Vehicle entrance fee: $10 per vehicle, collected from sunrise to sunset at all gates. The posted collection season runs from mid-May to mid-October.
- Gorge Trail: Closes October 25, 2026, or sooner after several nights in the 30s.
- Gift shop: Closes for the season at the end of November.
- North and South Rim nature trails: Open all year, sunrise to sunset.
The first two items set up the rest of the month. Over the summer, many visitors rode the shuttle to the Upper entrance and walked downhill to the village. When the shuttle stops, that one-way option goes away, and the walk becomes a loop or an out-and-back from wherever you parked. For people who live nearby, that's most likely the Franklin Street entrance, which leads straight onto the new bridge.
The park lists the fee season as ending in mid-October and doesn't give an exact day. If the fee matters to your plans, check with the park office. The $80 Empire Pass covers unlimited day-use entry at most State Parks and DEC facilities, so it would cover any visits that fall before the gates stop collecting.
The Cold-Night Clause
The closing notice is specific about what could move the date. It says "several overnight temperatures in the 30's" before October 25 could force an earlier closing. The park's general guidance says the trail usually closes in mid to late October, depending on the weather. October 25 is the latest the trail will be open this year, and it could close earlier.
The trail is a narrow route of stone steps and wet ledges next to falling water. A few cold nights in a row are enough for the park to close it, so the posted date can change with the overnight forecast. The park says to contact the office to confirm conditions before you go. Check the Watkins Glen State Park page the morning you plan to walk.
So the safest time for a full walk across the new bridge is the next couple of weeks, while the shuttle might still be running on weekends, rather than the last weekend before October 25.
After October 25
Once the gorge closes, the park stays open with less access. It's open all year from dawn to dusk, and both rim trails stay open. The park's trail map identifies the South Rim Trail as part of the Finger Lakes Trail. Snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are on the park's amenity list. The rim trails stay high above the gorge, though. From November to May, they don't connect to the Gorge Trail or reach the waterfalls.
The Gorge Trail usually reopens in mid to late May. Between this month's closing and that reopening, the Sentry Bridge and the 19 waterfalls beyond it are closed. In a park that State Parks says gets about 1.3 million visitors a year, the late-fall weekdays after the shuttle stops are a different kind of visit. You park on Franklin Street, walk across the new bridge into the gorge, and walk back out.
The gorge is one of several fixed points in fall at the south end of the lake. The calendar side is covered in our look at the fall weekends on Seneca Lake's south end, and you can find more about the area on our Seneca Lake neighborhood page.
If you're weighing a place within walking distance of Franklin Street or anywhere else along Seneca Lake's south end, Nick Davoli can tell you how each property relates to the park entrances and to the lake. Let's Connect.
