The Empire State is full of spectacles, and they're not all located in New York City.

NewYorkUpstate.com recently published Natural wonders of Upstate NY: 12 lesser-known marvels you must see to believe. Many of them are within a short drive from the Mohawk Valley and Central New York. Let's see how many of these twelve you'd never even heard of, and how many others you might have already seen.

  • Eternal Flame Falls, near Buffalo, with water cascading over a cave with a flame lit by a natural gas dome
  • Vroman's Nose, featuring a lovely hiking trail and a vista at a height of 600 feet
  • Chimney Bluffs, with sand formations that look like medieval spires rising along the banks of Lake Ontario
  • Heldeberg Escarpment, with great views in the Capital Region
  • Herkimer Diamond Mines, with a chance to find a valuable gemstone right in the Mohawk Valley
  • Cohoes Falls, picturesque spot in the Capital Region
  • Black Locust Tree, an historic tree standing over 100 feet tall and located south of Buffalo
  • Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, right off the New York State Thruway, between Syracuse and Rochester, with bald eagles abounding
  • Panama Rocks, great natural forest with secret passages
  • Robert Woodruff Outdoor Learning Center, located between Herkimer and Cooperstown, with an impressive canyon formed by rocks
  • Gilboa Fossils, featuring fossilized tree stumps that are 380 million years old
  • Taughannock Falls, taller than Niagara Falls, located in Ithaca

We're sure some fantastic Central New York sights are missing from this list. What additions would you make?

 

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