The "Grand Canyon of the East" near Castile in western NY, where the Genesee River roars over three big waterfalls between cliffs up to 600 feet — far quieter than Niagara, arguably more dramatic.
Road trips · New York
New York road trips & hidden gems.
The stops worth changing a travel day for in New York — crowd-voted gems, events worth traveling for, and the public golf you can actually book. Curated by Roamward, the scenic road-trip planner.
Happening in New York
U.S. Open (Golf) 2026
Barely two dozen marquee events hit the whole country in a year — and New York has one this June. Roamward builds the trip around it: the scenic route in, the detours worth a slack day, and when rooms sell out.
Hidden gems
What locals say you shouldn’t miss.
Crowd-nominated in the Gem Hunt. Add yours and vote the finalists into the app.
A limestone cave system near Cobleskill that drops you 156 feet underground for a walk through cool corridors and a boat ride on an underground river — central NY's answer to a natural cathedral.
The gloriously tie-dyed underdog cave next door to Howe in Howes Cave, advertised by rainbow hand-painted billboards for miles, with a tour ending at a 100-foot underground waterfall.
A 56-foot kaleidoscope built inside an old grain silo at Mount Tremper in the Catskills — lie back on the floor and a psychedelic light show swirls overhead off Route 28.
A Finger Lakes gorge in Watkins Glen where a stone trail threads past 19 waterfalls, dropping 400 feet beneath 200-foot cliffs as you walk behind and under the falling water.
A 20-foot concrete duck built in 1931 to sell eggs and ducklings, now a beloved roadside icon on the National Register — step inside its belly for a tiny gift shop on Long Island's East End.
Worth traveling for
Events that put New York on the calendar.
Tee it up
Public golf you can book in New York.
Pound Ridge · $$$$ — Dye's only New York, rock-strewn
Ithaca · $$ — Jones's early hillside university course
Plan the New York trip
Get the scenic route, the stops, and the timing.
Roamward turns these into a real road trip — the drive, the detours, and the stays. Join early access for the iOS beta.