Kaaterskill Falls LbNA #1024 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Aug 10, 2001 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Palenville |
| County: | Greene |
| State: | New York |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Planted by: | CSCM  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | Buggylou |
| Last found: | Aug 31, 2007 |
| Status: | FFFFa |
| Last edited: | Aug 10, 2001 |
Placed by CSCM on 20010810.
Maintained by Phynstar.
This box was confirmed in place as of June 19, 2004.
A 1.5 mile hike, mostly along a steep and rocky trail, partly along a mountain highway. Clues are easy.
Background
I've been coming to this spot since I was a little kid and it never ceases to thrill me.
Located within the Catskill Forest Preserve, Kaaterskill Falls are the highest waterfalls in New York State. The upper falls is a thin plume dropping 167 feet into a natural amphitheater of rock. The lower falls drop another 64 feet into the Kaaterskill Creek stream bed.
Water levels vary significantly at Kaaterskill Falls. In late summer, the water flow can fade to a trickle. In winter it can freeze into a giant icicle.
The majesty of Kaaterskill Falls was a popular subject for Hudson River School artists like Thomas Cole and Asher B. Durand, during the Nineteenth Century. Today, Kaaterskill Falls remains a pristine and graceful example of the power of nature to continually reform our world with the patient perseverance of a simple stream.
In April 2001, an independent production called " Kaaterskill Falls " was filmed here by Josh Apter and Peter Olsen.
Directions
From the New York Thruway (I87) take exit 20 at Saugerties. Take Route 32 North. Bear left on Route 32A North/West. Turn right onto Route 23A West at Palenville and drive 3.6 miles to a small parking lot located on your left hand side, on the outside of a curve in the road.
From the parking lot, walk down hill along the road. Be very careful of traffic as the shoulder is practically nonexistent. The beginning of the Kaaterskill Falls Trail is located on your left hand side, just over a stone bridge at a hairpin turn.
Follow the yellow markers up past Bastion Falls (spectacular in their own right when the water is high) and proceed one half mile over recently improved trails. Kaaterskill Creek flows between and over rocks and boulders to your left.
The official trail ends at the base of the Kaaterskill Falls. Find the large boulder that is the most obvious place from which to contemplate the roaring beauty of the waterfalls and climb on top. Stand on "S. Root" and sight at 155 degrees to an opening at the base of a couple of slabs of rock that are half-buried in the hillside. The stamp you seek is within.
Going Further
At this point you can either return back down the trail to your car, or attempt the much more difficult ascent to the top. There used to be a trail that climbed to the top of the falls, but it is now officially closed and unmaintained. However, if you're especially intrepid and careful, you can climb to the middle basin and then on to the top. Deaths and injuries have occurred at Kaaterskill, so be extremely careful. (For the less adventurous, a view from the top may be obtained by driving a little over a mile further up 23A from the parking lot. A right turn will put you on the road to North Lake, and a turn onto Scutt Road will bring you to a lot near the top of the falls.)
The middle basin is a particularly nice area, as the overhanging rock of the upper falls creates a large amphitheater-like area behind the falls. There is a lovely little pool here where the water collects before it continues its course over the lower tier of Kaaterskill Falls. A narrow path will take you behind the falls, but you'll have to walk like an ape part of the way or risk bumping your head.
The view from the top can cause vertigo in those who are susceptible. Most of the rock surfaces near the edge are carved with the names and initials of those who have visited, some dating back to the 1830s. There was once a mountain house located at the top, but like most mountain houses of its era, it burned to the ground. When I was a kid foundations could still be found, but today vegetation has obscured any trace of the building.
Whether you come for the short hike, the stamp, and the view from the bottom, or you press on to the middle basin and the top, I'm sure you'll enjoy Kaaterskill Falls as much as I have!
Maintained by Phynstar.
This box was confirmed in place as of June 19, 2004.
A 1.5 mile hike, mostly along a steep and rocky trail, partly along a mountain highway. Clues are easy.
Background
I've been coming to this spot since I was a little kid and it never ceases to thrill me.
Located within the Catskill Forest Preserve, Kaaterskill Falls are the highest waterfalls in New York State. The upper falls is a thin plume dropping 167 feet into a natural amphitheater of rock. The lower falls drop another 64 feet into the Kaaterskill Creek stream bed.
Water levels vary significantly at Kaaterskill Falls. In late summer, the water flow can fade to a trickle. In winter it can freeze into a giant icicle.
The majesty of Kaaterskill Falls was a popular subject for Hudson River School artists like Thomas Cole and Asher B. Durand, during the Nineteenth Century. Today, Kaaterskill Falls remains a pristine and graceful example of the power of nature to continually reform our world with the patient perseverance of a simple stream.
In April 2001, an independent production called " Kaaterskill Falls " was filmed here by Josh Apter and Peter Olsen.
Directions
From the New York Thruway (I87) take exit 20 at Saugerties. Take Route 32 North. Bear left on Route 32A North/West. Turn right onto Route 23A West at Palenville and drive 3.6 miles to a small parking lot located on your left hand side, on the outside of a curve in the road.
From the parking lot, walk down hill along the road. Be very careful of traffic as the shoulder is practically nonexistent. The beginning of the Kaaterskill Falls Trail is located on your left hand side, just over a stone bridge at a hairpin turn.
Follow the yellow markers up past Bastion Falls (spectacular in their own right when the water is high) and proceed one half mile over recently improved trails. Kaaterskill Creek flows between and over rocks and boulders to your left.
The official trail ends at the base of the Kaaterskill Falls. Find the large boulder that is the most obvious place from which to contemplate the roaring beauty of the waterfalls and climb on top. Stand on "S. Root" and sight at 155 degrees to an opening at the base of a couple of slabs of rock that are half-buried in the hillside. The stamp you seek is within.
Going Further
At this point you can either return back down the trail to your car, or attempt the much more difficult ascent to the top. There used to be a trail that climbed to the top of the falls, but it is now officially closed and unmaintained. However, if you're especially intrepid and careful, you can climb to the middle basin and then on to the top. Deaths and injuries have occurred at Kaaterskill, so be extremely careful. (For the less adventurous, a view from the top may be obtained by driving a little over a mile further up 23A from the parking lot. A right turn will put you on the road to North Lake, and a turn onto Scutt Road will bring you to a lot near the top of the falls.)
The middle basin is a particularly nice area, as the overhanging rock of the upper falls creates a large amphitheater-like area behind the falls. There is a lovely little pool here where the water collects before it continues its course over the lower tier of Kaaterskill Falls. A narrow path will take you behind the falls, but you'll have to walk like an ape part of the way or risk bumping your head.
The view from the top can cause vertigo in those who are susceptible. Most of the rock surfaces near the edge are carved with the names and initials of those who have visited, some dating back to the 1830s. There was once a mountain house located at the top, but like most mountain houses of its era, it burned to the ground. When I was a kid foundations could still be found, but today vegetation has obscured any trace of the building.
Whether you come for the short hike, the stamp, and the view from the bottom, or you press on to the middle basin and the top, I'm sure you'll enjoy Kaaterskill Falls as much as I have!