Flightseeing very near Ithaca

[JPower96]

Hey everyone, I'm flying up to KITH on Friday to visit some friends. I will be taking a couple of them up for a short flight. We won't have a ton of time, just like 30 to 45 minutes in the air. It'll be their first GA flight, so just going up for a quick tour over the town of Ithaca would likely be cool enough for them, but I was wondering if anyone has a particular "can't miss" sight from the air within about 15-20NM of KITH, other than Cornell and downtown Ithaca.

Thanks in advance!

 

[AlleyCat67]

There are several beautiful waterfalls & river-cut gorges in the area, but I don’t know if they are impressive from the air. Taugannock Falls might be big enough to be worth flying over. If you have half a day, it’s fun to land at Corning and check out the Corning Glass Museum, which is world class.

 

[JPower96]

There are several beautiful waterfalls & river-cut gorges in the area, but I don’t know if they are impressive from the air. Taugannock Falls might be big enough to be worth flying over. If you have half a day, it’s fun to land at Corning and check out the Corning Glass Museum, which is world class.

I've been to the Glass Museum as a kid (on the same trip I took my first glider flight!) and definitely want to fly in another time! Sadly, this trip I won't have the time, but I appreciate the suggestion of the falls! I'll add that to the flight plan!

 

[GaryM]

There are several beautiful waterfalls & river-cut gorges in the area, but I don’t know if they are impressive from the air. Taugannock Falls might be big enough to be worth flying over. If you have half a day, it’s fun to land at Corning and check out the Corning Glass Museum, which is world class.

I lived in Ithaca while I was in grad school. It's a beautiful area. I finally took the time to fly back up there shortly before I left NJ and moved back west in 2024.

This is Taughannock Falls from the air- it’s a short distance north of Ithaca, on the west side of Cayuga Lake. We were headed up the lake from KITH, so not as low as we might have been for the photo op. It’s a 215’ falls, so impressive even at relatively low flow rates. The gorge is almost 400’ deep. You can hike up to the falls from Taughannock Park, on the lake.

 

[JPower96]

Thanks for the input folks! Unfortunately, we got to fly over Cornell and Ithaca gorge/falls before one passenger informed me of airsickness and we promptly returned to ITH, so we didn't get to do Taughannoc falls. At least we got a beautiful view of Ithaca and the falls in town!