Seneca Rocks was another one of our random finds that we came across at the last moment on our camping trip. The parking lot can be found at the intersection of Route 33 and Route 55. The rock formation rises nearly 900 feet above the North Fork River. Seneca Rocks is a popular attraction especially among rock climbers. There’s a discovery center separating the parking lot and trail head. The discovery center has a bathroom, historic and nature exhibits, a small shop and access to the nearly 3 mile roundtrip hike to Seneca Rocks. At the top of the hike there’s an observation deck with benches and a nice view. There is an option to go past this point and climb up onto the rocks themselves but do so at your own risk. A sign posted warning about continuing on to the rocks as many people have died on this section before. This section is dangerous as there is no real trail through and has a steep drop off.
Since the observation deck below was overcrowded we decided to stop up on the rocks and eat our lunch, take some pictures and do some exploring before heading back down. We ended up hanging out up there for a little over an hour before starting back.
If you plan on going to Seneca Rocks definitely wear good hiking shoes, take a snack and a hydrating drink. The elevation of this hike does make it more strenuous than the mileage would suggest. Make sure to check out the Discovery Center website for hours before visiting as this does seem to be open seasonally at select times. Seeing as this is a rather short hike and could be nice little day trip or stop off I would suggest visiting Seneca Rocks and add it your leaf peeping list.
