Ithaca & Firelight Camps

As we all know, the 2020 pandemic put a huge damper on all travel plans. Generally I like to get at least one long weekend getaway in a year, and I was super bummed that it didn’t look like that was going to happen.

But, as I’m still currently unemployed, I have some extra free time on my hands, which means that a weekend getaway could also be a weekday getaway. I’ve been following Firelight Camps on Instagram for a while now, and since I’m not a huge camping person, the “glamping” thing sounded like the perfect road trip. I know that they book up super fast, but lucky for me they had a Sunday to Monday open in one of the tent that have electricity (YES!) so I immediately booked it.

I’ve never been to Ithaca before, so we decided to make a longer road trip out of the experience and make some stops along the way. It was a beautiful sunny day, so we made a stop in Canandaigua at Twisted Rail Brewing for a snack and a beverage.

If you didn’t know, Ithaca is known for their waterfalls and gorges. I was excited to visit Taughannock Falls, because the photos that I’ve seen looked so insanely beautiful!

Well, we got there and this is what we saw…it was all dried up!

The unfortunate lack of rain this summer had reduced the falls to a tiny little trickle. It was an impressive cliff, though! I’m hoping to visit again in a few weeks to see if the falls are actually…falling.

In the hopes to see SOME water, our next stop was the Buttermilk Falls hiking trail. It was about a 2.5 mile hike around the entire trail. Make sure you have comfortable shoes, clothing, and water! We made the mistake of not bringing water with us, and it was spicy hot outside…rookie mistake. The trail was beautiful, though, and there were a lot of people swimming! Not bringing a bathing suit was also a rookie mistake.

From there we decided to head into camp. If you aren’t familiar with Firelight, they set up permanent tents with beds, a little back patio with chairs, firepits, and some even have electricity. I’m actually really glad that we paid a little extra money for the electricity, because it was nice having the lamps at night and it did get a little chilly so we slept with the heater on. It was nice and toasty!

There is a main communal area where you check in with a bar area where you can purchase drinks and a lounge section around firepits, which is so fun to snuggle around when it’s chillier at night. You can also make smores! Just mention smores and I’m there.

When you check in, they hand you a paper with their breakfast offerings and you check off what you would like for the next day. Pre-Covid, they would have had a breakfast buffet, but now they package everything up individually in cooler bags with your tent number on it, and you can walk over and grab your bag in the morning. So convenient and such a sweet little touch.

Masks are required while you are in the bathroom area and common spaces, but you can remove them once you get to your tent.

At night, the camp lights up their string lights so you can find your way to the bathrooms. There is a shared bathroom space with stalls and showers. Everything was extremely clean and it felt SO good to take a hot shower after a long day of hiking. Tip: make sure to bring your shower shoes!

Before heading home the next day we went on another little hike. One really cool thing is that there is a trail that leaves right from camp, so you don’t have to go very far to get your wilderness fix!

All in all it was an incredible experience and I can’t wait to go back. If you get the chance, I would highly recommend staying at Firelight Camps! Have you been? I’d love to know how you liked it!