New York's Highest Waterfall Tucked Away in the Catskills - Kaaterskill Falls
Written: Mar 31 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Visually Stunning, Great views, Wild waterfall, Highest in NY
Cons: Beyond hiking trails, no improvements (that's not necessarily a con)
The Bottom Line: Kaaterskill Falls offers a lot to any visitor who’s looking to find one of nature’s wonders
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| jps246's Full Review: Kaaterskill Falls |
Kaaterskill Falls is one of those not quite on the beaten path destinations in New York State. The 260-foot, two-tiered waterfall is the highest in New York and is tucked away within one of the many cloves that form the eastern escarpment of the Catskill Mountains.
The hike into Kaaterskill Falls, either from the top or the bottom is well worth the effort. You are rewarded with a wild look at one of the most spectacular sights in the Catskills.
Situated within the Catskill State Park and part of New York’s “Forest Preserve,” Kaaterskill Falls is one of the few ‘wild’ destinations that are forever protected in their natural state by New York State’s constitution.
Where is it?
Kaaterskill Falls is located in Kaaterskill Clove along the eastern escarpment of the Catskill Mountains. That makes it about an hour south of Albany and about 3 hours north of New York City. Route 23A climbs through the area from Palenville at the bottom of the mountains to the Hunter-Tannersville-Haines Fall region on top of the mountains. The New York State Thruway is about a 30 minute ride from parking lot on Route 23A.
A smidge of history…
This part of the Catskills was the original playground for America’s rich and famous during the late part of the 1800s and the early part of the 1900s. World famous hotels were built in the area, a cable railway was built up the eastern escarpment of the mountains and carriage roads were built to take guests all throughout the area – including Kaaterskill Falls.
The falls themselves were home to the Laurel House Hotel, which was located on top of the falls. You can still see foundation outlines of the old hotel and traces of the well-built trails that brought guests around the falls. There was even a damn upstream of the falls so that once a day – a roaring torrent could be sent over the falls for the guests to watch.
Nowadays the hotels are gone, as are the railroads. All that’s left are slight imprints of the old wonders, including the bridal paths that today form an extensive trail network throughout the area.
How do I get to the falls?
There are two major ways to access the falls and both require some level of walking and/or hiking. One is from below the falls and the other accesses the top of the falls.
From below…
To access the falls from below, an official trail runs from Bastion Falls (a small waterfall) on Route 23A to the base of the falls. This trail is well maintained, improved to a point that makes walking easy and is about a half-mile long (one way). Even though you’ll see people walking in flip-flops and other less than stellar shoes for hiking, I would suggest that you wear a pair of hiking boots. There are many rocks, roots and other obstacles you’ll need to walk around or over and it’s always a good idea to have good footwear.
This lower trail takes you to the base of the two-tiered Kaaterskill Falls and ends there. From this vantage point you look up at both tiers of the falls (this is where the picture shown on Epinions is taken from). From here there are no official trails that bring you closer to the waterfall, though there are several well-worn herd paths in the area that bring you to the base of the higher tier of the falls.
Caution – This is dangerous
If you’re considering heading beyond the end of the trail, you should be comfortable with your hiking ability. There are several areas where you will be climbing across steep, loose rock, along small shelves with large drops and in general, it’s an area where a mistake could have bad consequences.
Don’t attempt to get into these areas unless you are adequately prepared. Almost every year someone dies from injuries sustained from falling around the falls.
If you are prepared, it is an interesting area to explore – the upper waterfall at 180 feet is very large and standing at its base is an amazing experience. In addition, the rock layers behind the waterfall have eroded out, leaving an amphitheater like structure behind the falls. The more resistant rock layers act as ledges and you can completely traverse behind the falls along them.
From the top…
If you’re not up for the wilder hike up through Kaaterskill Clove to the base of the falls, there’s an easy access to the top of the falls from the end of the Laurel House Road, which is off of the North Lake Road in Haines Falls. From the parking area at the end of the road, an old carriage road runs to the top of the falls. You have the ability to enjoy the view from the crest of the falls and if you’re comfortable enough with heights, look over the edge and see all the people below.
There is no safe or easy way to access the bottom of the falls from the top of the falls and I wouldn’t suggest attempting to find a way. There are several lines of cliffs in the clove and an inexperienced hiker would have a hard time navigating their way down to the base of the falls.
Costs?
Beyond the calories you burn to hike to the falls, there are no fees for using the area. The falls are within the forest preserve of the Catskill State Park and therefore are open to the public.
Crowds
Both the top and the bottom of the falls can get very crowded, especially on more popular holiday weekends or during hot weather when people are looking to cool off in the streams.
The bottom of the falls is usually the most crowded – sometimes when you’re hiking the trail you will be in a line of people heading up and be constantly passing people coming down. The top also gets crowded, but the limited views and the lack of a way to get down to the base of the falls keep the crowds slightly thinner.
What can you do?
This is a wild waterfall and beyond the hiking trails there are no improved facilities around the falls. Any activities beyond hiking up to the falls is of your own making and is done on your own. No matter what you do though, make sure you bring a camera to capture some great shots of the falls.
There are swimming opportunities along Kaaterskill Creek as you hike up to the base of the falls. Several smaller falls make deep pools along the creek and are excellent for swimming. People also enjoy standing beneath the lower or the upper falls, though I’d suggest you don’t since you never know if people from up above are throwing trash in the water and you don’t want that to hit on your head. Some people swim in the pools of Kaaterskill Creek above the falls, but I wouldn’t suggest this, the water is swift and the rocks are slippery and a 180 foot fall isn’t going to feel comfortable.
You’d expect with a 260-foot waterfall that there are plenty of rock climbing opportunities – there are, though you must be adequately prepared for them. One of the most popular activities is to set up rappelling lines off the top of the falls to the top of the lower level – a rappel of about 180 feet. It’s that much more spectacular because after the first few feet at the top, you are rappelling in the open air – there’s nothing around you but the ground below you.
In the wintertime Kaaterskill Falls is home to ice climbers. The falls themselves freeze up in a giant cone and experienced ice climbers can climb on this cone or on the ice flows surrounding the falls on the walls of the clove.
Camping
Camping is allowed in the forest preserve so long as you are at least 150 feet from trails, water and roads. This means that there really aren’t any places to camp on the lower approach to the falls (since any flat area adjacent to the stream is both within 150 feet of the stream and the trail) and even on top of the falls, there are very few places where you can legally camp. Most areas that aren’t open to camping along the top of the falls are well marked – watch for signs to see where you can and cannot camp.
For those looking for a more structured campsite, North and South Lake Campground is a few miles down North Lake Road from where you turned onto the Laurel House Road. North Lake is a state run campground that provides maintained sites for tents, trailers and campers and offers activities for campers.
Experiences
I grew up not too far from Kaaterskill Falls and was often over with my father and his hiking and climbing friends. We explored the falls both in the summer and the winter and I learned about many of the routes around the falls at this point.
All that exploration came in handy when I was an Assistant Forest Ranger in the area for two summers, considering I spent a good part of most weekends in the Kaaterskill Falls area – either making sure there was no illegal camping, or making sure people weren’t doing things that were too crazy around the falls (rock climbing in flip-flops comes to mind). I also had the unfortunate task is taking part in several rescues at the falls when people either fell from the falls, or hurt themselves on the steep slopes and cliffs surrounding the falls.
There’s no greater warning about the dangers of the falls than having to carry a dead body out from them. Make sure you take the proper precautions if you are going to venture past the maintained trails.
I love the falls – even though it’s crowded a lot of the time. It’s just a spectacular area that continues to amaze me every time I’m there, even though I’ve already spent so much time there. Plus almost every time I’m exploring, I find something new – like a trace of an old rock staircase from the hotel days, or a new vista along the sides of the clove.
One of my most favorite things to do is to climb the trail to the base of the falls after a heavy rain. Most of the year the water coming over the falls is merely the flow of a small stream, after a heavy rain or flooding event, Kaaterskill Creek is a seething, boiling, river of red water (Catskill mud is red). When you’re standing near the falls you can hear the rocks tumbling over the falls and you can actually smell the rocks grinding against one another. It’s really an incredible experience.
Final Thoughts…
Don’t go to Kaaterskill Falls expecting anything in the way of facilities or development, this is a wild waterfall. You will find maintained trails to both the top and the bottom of the falls and the view alone is well worth the trip.
Most people will be able to hike either trail, but exploring the falls themselves beyond the trails is best left to people with extensive hiking and climbing experience. The falls can and are dangerous, don’t put yourself in a situation where you are going to be the one who needs to be rescued.
Whether it’s just the hike and the view your after, the ice climbing potential in the winter, the chance to see a big waterfall up close, or a chance to swim in a clear and cold mountain stream, Kaaterskill Falls offers a lot to any visitor who’s looking to find one of nature’s wonders.
Want to explore the rest of the Catskills?
Many thanks to SurgRN911 for adding this to the database!
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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