Come Glamping With Me In Ellicottville, NY
Ellicottville is a small town located about an hour south of Buffalo, NY. It’s mostly known for winter activities such as skiing and snowboarding, but the summer can offer just as much activity and fun. I recently had the opportunity to be hosted by Good Natured Glamping and can’t wait to tell you about our stay and what we did while we were there!
Good Natured Glamping is located at 4688 Rt 242 E. Ellicottville, NY 14731 and is about an 8 minute drive from the village of Ellicottville. The property is beautiful and peaceful and everything you would want for a relaxing getaway. The tents are open from May through the end of September and you can choose from their Stargazer tent (sleeps 4) or the Safari tent (sleeps 2). Both come with their own private outhouse/bathroom (no shower though) with a composting toilet and all sorts of products to keep you feeling fresh haha. When I tell you the owners have thought of everything, I mean it. Each tent comes with a 45 qt standing cooler packed with ice for your beverages and food, a coffee/tea station featuring Ellicottville Coffee Co coffee and individual fire pits with a swivel grill and a bundle of wood for each night's stay. Our hosts, Kelly and Dave were wonderful and just the sweetest people. If glamping is something you love or are dying to try, this is the perfect place to do it.
Once you’ve got your accommodations booked, you can start planning your activities! Our first stop was to the Griffis Scultpure Park, located at 6902 Mill Valley Road · East Otto, NY 14729. If you’ve never been, it’s a wonderful place to visit for all ages. Some of the trails are a bit strenuous, but you can take your time and see as much or as little as you want. There is a suggested donation of $5 per person to tour the grounds and they even have a gift shop! The 450 acre park in the Enchanted Mountains of Western New York State is one of America’s largest and oldest sculpture parks and has over 250 sculptures! This is the perfect place to start your weekend as you make your way into town.
If you decide to go in the fall, be sure to check out Night Lights at the park!
After doing some exploring at the sculpture park, we headed into the village of Ellicottville for some lunch and to check out the shops. Ellicottville Brewing was wonderful and may I suggest ordering the pretzel and a blueberry wheat beer. Yum! They have a fabulous patio and the service was great. We walked Washington Street, grabbed a coffee from Ellicottville Coffee Co. and got ready for our next stop. My favorite shop in town was Wild Roamer. Don’t miss it the next time you visit!!
I absolutely loved our next stop!! We drove from the town to Holiday Valley to ride the Mountain Coaster!!! This was so much more fun than I expected! You could spend a whole day at the Sky High Adventure Course, taking the chair lift to the top of the mountain and riding the mountain coaster. The coaster runs year round, even in the dead of winter! You can purchase a single ride for $12, two for $22, five for $50 or ten for $85. You aren’t allowed to take pictures on the coaster so this is all I got! Check the Holiday Valley website for the different ticket packages and prices that are offered throughout the year.
After the coaster, we drove to get settled into our tent and get ready for dinner at Dina’s. You can definitely pack food to cook at your campsite if that’s easier, but since we were only there for one night we decided to grab dinner back in town. The food and drinks were great! We ordered way too much food.. the seared tuna crisps, the mussels, a wedge salad with shrimp, caesar with salmon, the truffle French fries, the roasted red potatoes and of course, some drinks. There are several restaurants in town to choose from ranging from super casual to more elegant, so definitely something for everyone.
After eating way too much, we went back to camp to get in our pajamas and make some French press coffee over the fire. That night, the temps got into the low fifties and it decided to rain so we bundled up, had some girl talk and went to sleep. It was such a great day!
The next morning we were up bright and early to start something super exciting! We drove into town to grab a coffee and a scone for the ride to Franklinville and we were ready to start the Enchanted Mountain Challenge. If you love escape rooms and solving riddles, you’ll love this. The Challenge will take you on a journey through time as you solve riddles, discover clues and explore the beautiful countryside throughout the towns of Ellicottville, Olean and Franklinville, NY. The cost is $55 per person and it’s best to work in teams. My friend and I had so much fun starting this challenge and I will tell you that we made it to clue #3 and then got stuck so we have to come back to finish the challenge in August. The website says it can take 1-2 days to solve so keep that in mind if you start it!
I don’t want to give too many clues away so here is a link to the FAQ’s!
We spent the majority of the day driving through Franklinville and into the Enchanted Mountains solving clues but eventually we had to make our way back home. The best part was that we only had an hour ride home! Ellicottville is such a fabulous place for a quick getaway and has a little something for everyone.. unique places to stay, plenty of outdoor activities, cozy cafes and gourmet restaurants, live music and so much more. Let me know in the comments if you’ve ever been glamping and if not, would you try it??
As always, thanks for reading and happy traveling!
x, Julie