East of I-81, all the way to Albany, US-20 follows the route blazed by the old Great Western Turnpike over gradually steepening roller-coaster hills, past sweet-corn stands, dairy bars, and cabbage fields, and into the western reaches of picture-perfect Cherry Valley. Refuel for the rolling road ahead at the ramshackle Gatesdale Dairy Bar in Bridgewater, which sports a cooler full of creamy, rich ice cream and a sagging neon sign featuring a dripping milk bottle under the portrait of a satisfied heifer in a floppy chef’s hat. Another tempting place to pause is West Winfield, its streets lined by big trees and well-maintained Victorian-era homes.
Midway between Syracuse and Albany, 15 miles northwest of Cooperstown, Richfield Springs (pop. 1,565) is a peaceful crossroads that offers a calmer and less-expensive base for exploring the area. A rustic bandshell stands in the center of its grassy town square, and right across 20-mph US-20 you can enjoy a Hoffman’s hot dog or a Hershey milk shake at the friendly, family-run Village Snack Bar (daily in summer; 315/858-3988), open since 1953. Behind the snack bar, and built at the same time, is the equally pleasant, AAA-rated Village Motel ($80–100; 315/858-1540).
On the south side of US-20, several miles east of Richfield Springs at the crest of a large hill, a private home does double-duty as the Petrified Creatures Museum of Natural History (daily July & Aug., hours vary rest of year; $8, $4 for under-12s; 315/858-2868), an outdoor tour of real 300-million-year-old Devonian-era fossils, plus garishly painted, life-sized “talking” dinosaur sculptures. An added attraction is the option of using a pickax to hack out and take home a few fossilized keepsakes from the slate pit—where most of the “petrified creatures” come from. The admission is a bit steep, but the gift shop—packed full of prehistoric-themed knick-knacks—is free.
East of Richfield Springs, US-20 makes a roller-coaster ride through the patchwork of hillside cornfields and dairy farms that drape the bubbling landscape through the fertile Cherry Valley region. Just south of the highway, attractive little Cherry Valley (pop. 600) contains a small local history museum that recalls this tiny crossroads’ early-19th-century boom period as a rowdy turnpike stagecoach stop. A small obelisk in the village cemetery on S. Main Street pays homage to the residents killed in 1779 in the Cherry Valley Massacre, a British-backed Iroquois raid during the Revolutionary War.
Cherry Valley also holds a more recent landmark: The TePee (607/264-3987), a 50-foot-tall, tepee-shaped attraction, which has lured souvenir-starved travelers since 1950 with its array of Native American trinkets, famous “TePee Taffy,” and “Grand Panoramic View” telescope. A snack bar has hot dogs and very good chili.
