I let out an audible gasp as the twinkling waters of Green Lake come into view, shining brilliant turquoise and deep emerald in the sun. Surrounding its sandy shores, an ancient forest of sugar maples, eastern hemlocks and white cedars rises up to brush a watercolour-blue sky. Under a tulip tree, a wood thrush sings; a tiny chipmunk hops over my feet into the scrub. My heart beats faster. I am ten minutes into a 3.5-mile hike to Round Lake and already I feel as though I’ve found the yellow-brick road and encountered a Munchkin. And maybe it isn’t a bird I can hear but a flying monkey, sent by the Wicked Witch of the West to spy on me.
This is Wizard of Oz territory, an overlooked corner of New York state about 200 miles northwest of Manhattan, where the great Oz universe creator L Frank Baum grew up. His enduring children’s classic, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz — the first of 14 Oz books — celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. I am in Green Lakes State Park, in the village of Fayetteville, following a trail through a forest containing 14,000-year-old glacial lakes, both distinct for their blue-green colour created by layers of water that don’t mix. It was this ethereal setting that inspired the haunted forest in Baum’s book.
I first read The Wizard of Oz aged six with my late mum, enthralled by the tale of the young Kansas girl called Dorothy and her dog Toto, transported to the fictional land of Oz in a tornado, and whose spellbinding slippers were originally silver but switched to ruby red for the 1939 Hollywood blockbuster. Occasionally, I’ll dip into the book when I want to think of Mum, noticing new details when I do. It is why I was keen to explore this unsung region Baum called home, a bucolic land of rushing waterfalls, shady hiking trails, pine-studded valley views and storybook towns, on a literary pilgrimage — although there are plenty of things to do to keep non-Oz fans entertained too.
What you need to knowHow do I get there? Syracuse is a four-hour drive from New York City, or a five-hour train from Penn Station. When you’re there, hire a car to explore the other towns as public transport is extremely limitedInsider tip Take the quiet backroads away from the main highways where central New York reveals its best scenery, such as East Lake Road skirting Cazenovia LakeWho will love it? Oz fans and travellers who love small-town charm, lakeside scenery and rolling countrysideChittenango is Oz ground zero
My visit is timed around Oz-Stravaganza, a colourful June weekend celebration of the Oz kingdom — the largest in the world — featuring costume competitions, a parade, live music performances, talks, a craft market and fairground rides. Some 30,000 visitors descend on the small town of Chittenango, Baum’s birthplace, which cashes in on its Oz heritage with real yellow-brick pavements, banners announcing the “Birthplace of L Frank Baum”, venues with names such as the Yellow Brick Road Casino and signs reading “Oz Xing” (free, June 5-7, 2026; oz-stravaganza.com).
Syracuse is a good base for visitors to the Finger Lakes wine country
ALAMY
My Oz adventure starts in Syracuse, a university city in the centre of New York state, 15 miles west of Chittenango, where from about the age of ten Baum lived in a home called Roselawn, in Mattydale. Nowadays, Syracuse is a springboard for the Finger Lakes wine country, and interesting for its Erie Canal history. Completed in 1825, America’s first navigable waterway to connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, a chain of five enormous freshwater lakes in eastern North America, once flowed through the city centre and is celebrated in vast detail at the excellent Erie Canal Museum in Downtown (suggested £9 donation; eriecanalmuseum.org).
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Powerful stories emerge at my next stop, the Matilda Joslyn Gage Center in Fayetteville, a suburb of Syracuse nine miles east, where I swot up on Baum’s mother-in-law at her Victorian home. Matilda Joslyn Gage was a woman known for standing up for her beliefs, and many historians agree that she was a big inspiration for Dorothy. Following a self-guided tour through creaky rooms I learn about the work of this pioneering activist for women’s rights who led the women’s suffrage movement, supported Native American rights and the abolition of slavery, as well as founding the Women’s National Liberal Union (£5.50; matildajoslyngage.org).
In 1882 Baum married Gage’s daughter Maud here in the elegant parlour. This is where I meet my first Oz fans, David Kelpel from Wisconsin and his friend Peter Ennamorato from Chittenango, both in Oz T-shirts. Kelpel has been coming to Oz-Stravaganza since 2008, while Ennamorato works as a volunteer. Impostor syndrome kicks in as they spout Wizard of Oz facts and anecdotes, such as did I know a pair of original ruby slippers from the film recently sold for £21 million at auction?
Green Lakes State Park was the inspiration for the haunted forest in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
ALAMY
I ponder this on my walk around Green Lakes State Park, before heading 15 miles southeast to Cazenovia, a picturesque lake town big on charm and historic architecture. It is to be my base for three nights and I check into the simple but unatmospheric Hampton Inn & Suites — a nicer option would have been the Lincklaen House, a historic tavern built in 1835 and the oldest grand hotel in central New York (room-only doubles from £97; lincklaenhouse.com).
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Attractions beyond Oz
The next morning I head to Chittenango, the centre of Oz action, nine miles north. Ennamorato greets me like an old friend with a big hug in the gift shop of the All Things Oz Museum, an emporium of Oz memorabilia on Genesee Street, Chittenango’s main artery. It’s home to more than 17,000 items relating to The Wizard of Oz, from rare first-edition copies of Baum’s smash hit to one of Dorothy’s dresses from the 1939 film. I take a tour with Allison Lehr, the museum’s manager, who is dressed as Dorothy and carrying a dark grey cairn terrier named Toto under her arm (£9; allthingsoz.org).
The All Things Oz Museum contains one of Dorothy’s dresses from the 1939 film
ALAMY
By the time I leave, the tiny museum is heaving with groups in fancy dress. The sun beats down on the yellow-brick pavement I follow to the Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum, a 30-minute walk away in the Old Erie Canal State Historic Park, for Oz respite. This heritage site is where cargo barges would have docked for repairs in the canal’s heyday in the early to mid-19th century. Now it’s a fascinating hands-on outdoor museum dotted with picnic benches and featuring preserved dry docks and recreations of former buildings such as a blacksmiths shop and a sawmill (£7.50; open May to October; chittenangolanding.org/museum).
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I make it back to town in time to catch the Oz-Stravaganza parade of special guests, waving from convertible cars, including John Fricke, a self-proclaimed Oz historian, in a silver Nissan Fairlady; Vanessa O’Neil, Judy Garland’s granddaughter, in a lemon-yellow VW Beetle; and Dr Gita Dorothy Morena, Baum’s great-granddaughter, in a roaring metallic maroon Corvette Stingray. The party converges up the street in the main festival grounds at Sullivan Park, where I browse stalls busy with merch; hear a woman belt out Don Henley’s The Boys of Summer on stage; meet Julienne La Fleur, the author of Lessons From Oz, in “artists’ alley”; and catch Fricke hosting a series of talks with Oz fanatics in the nearby church.
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Vineyards, hiking and art parks
After all this I’m ready to leave the wonderful world of Oz fandom behind and discover the region’s lesser-appreciated charms, starting with the 57-acre Owera Vineyards just outside Cazenovia. Towering wrought-iron gates leading onto a winding drive signal my arrival at the estate, which has a winery, a tasting room and an airy restaurant and bar. I opt for a beet and burrata garden salad, a buttery 2019 barrel-aged chardonnay and a seat on the terrace overlooking the vineyards, and watch the sky turn hazy pink come dusk (tastings from £12; oweravineyards.com).
Owera Vineyards has a restaurant and bar
JAN REGAN
A huge stack of blueberry pancakes for a late breakfast at Dave’s Diner, a friendly daytime café in the centre of Cazenovia with an unpretentious, buzzy atmosphere (mains from £4; davesdinercazenovia.com), sets me up for a morning spent exploring the region’s outdoor charms, starting with a visit to Delphi Falls County Park, six miles southwest of the town centre. Here I stretch my legs on a brisk there-and-back one-mile climb to the top of the two-tier waterfalls (free; madisontourism.com), leaving plenty of time to explore the sculpture-scattered landscape of Stone Quarry Art Park, back towards Cazenovia, with dozens of artworks to discover over its 104 wild acres (free; sqhap.org). It’s also close to Mad Tacos, a colourful roadside diner where I devour three spicy beef tortillas in happy silence (mains from £9; madcotacos.com). As I perch on a stool in the bright, Americana-filled dining room, my mouth tingles from the chilli and I consider the magic of this real-life land of Oz, and that, sadly, it will soon be time to click my heels and return home.
Ellie Seymour was a guest of New York state (iloveny.com). Trips Beyond has 14 nights’ room only on its New York by Rail Amtrak itinerary from £3,340pp, including flights, transport and some activities (tripsbeyond.co.uk)