Everything worth doing.Within 20 minutes.

Family-owned estate winery on Fosterville Road in Aurelius, planted on the southwest side of the Owasco basin starting in 2003 — Riesling, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, and Chambourcin from a small, hands-on vineyard. Not lakefront and not a polished tasting-room operation; you'll likely meet the winemaker at the counter on a weekend. The honest answer to whether Owasco has wineries: yes, one worth the ten-minute drive.

Chef Ed Moro's French-influenced dining room on East Genesee Street, sourcing from the surrounding farms whenever the season allows — mussels, house-made pasta, and a raw bar alongside sushi rolls, an unusual pairing that works. Most entrees list two prices: a smaller portion and a full one. Order the small if you want room for dessert.

Specialty-cocktail bar and seafood kitchen on Genesee Street — raw bar, a serious drink menu, and a dining room that reads more city than small upstate town. The reservation to make when you want the night to feel like an occasion rather than a stop on the way somewhere else. Bar seating is first-come.

Organic farm-to-table dining room on Center Street Road, on the actual hundred-acre certified organic farm the kitchen draws from — vegetables, herbs, and pasture-raised meat, all grown or raised on site. Lunch and dinner Wednesday through Saturday, with a farm store a short walk from the dining room for produce and cut flowers to take home. Reserve ahead; it's a working farm, not a drop-in.

All-day breakfast on East Genesee Street — chicken and waffles, lemon blueberry French toast, biscuits and gravy, served in a room styled for a date as easily as a Sunday recovery meal. Open early, closed by mid-afternoon most days, later Thursday and Friday. Closed Sunday, which surprises people who show up expecting brunch.

The one restaurant that actually sits on Owasco Lake, at the south end off Route 38 near South Shore Marina — this address has changed names more than once in recent years, most recently from Drifters on Owasco. Open Wednesday through Sunday, starting at six in the morning, which makes it more breakfast-and-lunch spot than dinner destination. Call ahead; hours and ownership here shift season to season.

Downtown Auburn brewpub on State Street, named for the maximum-security prison that still anchors the city's skyline — house beers won awards at the 2023 New York State Craft Beer Competition, and the kitchen leans on local farms for the pub menu. Full bar, sit-down dining, later hours than most of downtown. The default answer when someone asks where to get a beer in Auburn.

Brewpub on the pedestrian stretch of Genesee Street in front of Auburn Public Theater — house beer plus a curated list of local wine, cider, and liquor, a fireplace lounge, and brick-fired pizza. Opened in 2018 and became the between-dinner-and-a-show stop for downtown. Good for a group that can't agree on beer versus wine.

Cayuga County's 135-acre park at the lake's north end — beach, an eighteen-hole disc golf course, playground, picnic shelters, and the only public swimming access most guests will find on Owasco. The Merry-Go-Round Playhouse operates out of a 1920s carousel building inside the park, and the National Register-listed Lakeside Park pavilion still hosts events. Parking runs two dollars in season.

Gorge park just outside Moravia with five waterfalls along a narrow hemlock ravine — Cowsheds Falls is the easy, five-minute walk from the lot; the full North Rim and Gorge Loop runs about three miles and reaches Dalibarda and the Pinnacle Falls at the far end. Stream-fed swimming pool, sixty campsites, and the best flow in May after snowmelt.

U-pick orchard on Route 5 between Elbridge and Auburn, about fifteen minutes from the lake's north end — fifteen apple varieties, a farm store selling cider by the growler, and apple-cider doughnuts made fresh most weekends. Store stays open mid-August through March, well past the picking season. The fall day-trip when Fillmore Glen's colors have already dropped.

Saturday-morning market at the New York State Equal Rights Heritage Center on South Street — local produce, baked goods, and live music through the growing season. Smaller than the Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday co-op market across town, but the one with the better setting, steps from the Harriet Tubman and Seward House sites.

Hard-surface county ramp at the lake's north end, inside Emerson Park — twenty-five car-trailer spaces, eight dollars a day, plus a separate kayak and paddleboard put-in. The busiest launch on the lake; spaces fill by mid-morning on July Saturdays. Fishing boats and pontoons both use it, so expect a queue at nine on a summer weekend.

Full-service marina at the lake's south end, off Route 38 on Firelane One — double launches, wet and dry slips, a fuel dock, a repair shop, bait and tackle, and a deli counter for lunch on the way out. Cabin rentals on site too. The closest thing Owasco has to a one-stop marina, and the anchor for the whole south-end boating scene.

The 1816 home of William H. Seward — New York governor, U.S. senator, and Lincoln's Secretary of State — on South Street, furnished with the family's own collections and open for tours on the hour. Frances Seward ran part of the house as an Underground Railroad stop, a detail the standard tour covers alongside Seward's own record. Auburn's history runs deeper than the lake it sits beside.

Three sites on South Street — the Home for the Aged Tubman founded, her own residence, and Thompson AME Zion Church where she worshipped — established as a National Historical Park in 2017. Ranger-led tours run about an hour forty-five and cover ground the textbook version skips. The church and parsonage open seasonally, Fridays and Saturdays, late May through early November.

Professional summer repertory theater inside a former carousel building at Emerson Park, right on the lake — musicals and plays running roughly May through October, home to the REV Theatre Co. The name is literal: the building held an actual carousel before it held a stage. Book ahead for weekend shows in July and August.