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Corning NY Mid-Week Getaway: Day 2 – Cascadilla Gorge

We spent three nights the week of October 17th in Corning, NY. I wrote about our first day here.

On October 20th we visited a covered bridge in Newfield, NY and then drove to Ithaca, NY.

Our first stop in Ithaca was at Buttermilk Falls State Park.

After viewing Buttermilk Falls, we walked back to our car and left for the Cascadilla Gorge Natural Area. The approximate 3-mile drive from Buttermilk Falls to Cascadilla Gorge took about 10 minutes. This was our first visit to Cascadilla Gorge.

We started our hike of the Cascadilla Gorge Trail at Treman Triangle Park. There is parking along several streets surrounding the park, including a pull-off directly across the street along Linn Street. We were fortunate to obtain free parking across from Treman Triangle Park, as that area can accommodate only a handful of cars. The gorge trail starts at the back of Treman Triangle Park.

As long as this gate is open, the public may enter the gorge.

According to a placard at the gorge entrance, the Cascadilla Gorge Trail is a hike of approximately 1/3 mile. The trail ascends approximately 400 feet passing by six waterfalls (or eight waterfalls from another source). The gorge trail was easy walking at its beginning. Once in the heart of the gorge, however, the climb became moderately difficult for me because I am out of shape and have an arthritic knee. It was well worth the climb, though, as the gorge is beautiful! We didn’t count the waterfalls, and I don’t know if I photographed each waterfall, so I can’t verify how many waterfalls we saw. I can attest to the fact that there were many waterfalls (small and large) and running water, where waterfalls were not present.

This video shows the first waterfall that we saw during our hike. It is the waterfall seen in the previous two photographs.

Bob took this picture of me standing at the top of the first waterfall.

Waterfall #2
The man at the top of this waterfall is looking for a missing AirPod (or a similar ear device).
This man is one of the many volunteers who maintain the gorge trail to keep it looking its best.

Waterfall #4
Isn’t the long exposure image of this waterfall beautiful?

Video of Waterfall #4

I took this picture from the top of Waterfall #4.

This is the last waterfall that we saw during our hike.

I LOVE the long exposure image of this waterfall!

Bob at the base of the waterfall,
before we began our climb out of the gorge

We ended our hike at College Street. We decided not to return to our car via the gorge. Instead we walked downhill (a steep walk downhill!) on the sidewalks along the roads to our car.

From Cascadilla Gorge we drove to the Taughannock Falls Overlook, the subject of my next blog post.

Corning NY Mid-Week Getaway: Day 2 – Buttermilk Falls

We spent three nights the week of October 17th in Corning, NY. I wrote about our first day here.

On October 20th we visited a covered bridge in Newfield, NY and then drove to Ithaca, NY.

Our first stop in Ithaca was at Buttermilk Falls State Park, where we parked in the lower parking lot. We have the NY State Empire Pass, so we did not have to pay an entrance fee.

Buttermilk Falls is visible from the parking lot.
This view is only a few feet away from the parking lot.

I walked down to the red barrier seen in the above photograph.

Buttermilk Falls, as viewed from near the red barrier

A bridge crosses over the creek.
I took this picture of Buttermilk Falls from that bridge.
Buttermilk Falls is 165 ft high.

There is a gorge trail on the right side of the waterfall. We walked up a very short way on the trail.

In addition to still pictures I took a couple videos that I sliced together and uploaded to YouTube.

We walked back our car and left for nearby Cascadilla Gorge (the subject of my next blog post).

Birthday Celebration Day 2 Continued

After visiting the Newfield Covered Bridge, we returned to Ithaca and stopped at Buttermilk Falls State Park. We entered the park via its lower entrance. It was a short walk from the parking lot to the base of Buttermilk Falls.

Buttermilk Falls

We drove to the upper park entrance, with the intent of driving to Lake Treman. The park road to Lake Treman, however, was closed. I don’t know if that part of the park road is open only to hiking, or if it is open to motor vehicle traffic sometime during the year. Not knowing the hiking distance, we chose not to hike to Lake Treman. Our drive to the upper park entrance, though, was not a loss. We did see a small waterfall on Buttermilk Creek.

Buttermilk Creek Waterfall

Our next stop was at Ithaca Falls. Wow! The water falling over that waterfall was quite impressive!

We saw Ithaca Falls first from the Lake Street bridge.

We, then, took a short walk through the woods to the base of the falls.

Ithaca Falls is over 100 feet tall and stretches nearly 175 ft across at its base.
I love the contrast in this monochrome photograph!

We visited Ithaca Falls for the first time in September 2015.

Ithaca Falls, September 2015

There was nowhere as much water falling at Ithaca Falls in September 2015, as there was during our most recent visit!

Our next stop was at Taughannock Falls State Park. We stopped first at Falls Overlook, where we enjoyed a lofty view of Taughannock Falls.

Taughannock Falls plunges 215 feet past rocky cliffs that tower nearly 400 feet above the gorge.

There are two levels from which to view the falls. Only the top level was open; the stairs to the lower level were closed for the season.

For the first time we discovered the trail heads for the south rim trail and the north rim trail. We hiked the north rim trail for a short distance. We were impressed by the rapidly moving water (the Upper Falls) making its way to Taughannock Falls, as well as the view into the gorge.

Upper Falls
Taughannock Falls State Park

Taughannock Gorge

At Taughannock Falls State Park we hiked the gorge trail as well. The gorge trail, muddy and icy in places, winds 3/4 mile past Lower Falls to the base of Taughannock Falls.

Lower Falls
Taughannock Falls State Park

Taughannock Falls

The last time we visited Taughannock Falls was in September 2015.

Taughannock Falls, September 2015

What a difference in water flow from September 2015 to February 2017!

We ate lunch at Creekside Cafe in Trumansburg, per Bob’s sister’s suggestion. Bob ordered a chef salad. I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich. The chef salad and the side salad that accompanied my sandwich contained edible flowers, seeds, and unusual greens. Both of our meals included a large serving of ham. The salad was out of my comfort zone, but both meals were good.

Leaving Trumansburg, we drove alongside Cuyago Lake to the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. We were disappointed to find that the wildlife drive is closed until April 1.

We stopped at Friendly’s in Geneva NY for ice cream, in celebration of my birthday. On our way back to Hammondsport, we stopped at Wegman’s to pick up water. Our 4-year-old granddaughters called using Facebook Messenger, while Bob was in the grocery store. During a video chat, the girls wished me a happy birthday. The girls were at a playground with “Big Grandma”, after a trip to the dentist. Isn’t technology grand! I loved seeing and chatting with our granddaughters, while we were miles and miles apart.

From Wegman’s we returned to Hammondsport, where we stopped briefly at Champlin Beach.

Champlin Beach at Keuka Lake

The airplane sculpture rising out of the lake caught my eye.

This airplane sculpture commemorates native son Glenn Hammond Curtiss.
Mr. Curtiss was the Father of Naval Aviation.

We returned to the hotel around 5:00 pm, where we stayed in for rest of the day. We ate a picnic dinner and watched three shows on Hulu Plus: The Path, Blindspot and Bones.

Five NY State Parks in One Weekend: Buttermilk Falls, Taughannock Falls and Robert H. Treman State Parks

On the second day of our Finger Lakes Region weekend getaway (June 27th), we went in search of NY State Park waterfalls. We made good use of our New York State Empire Passport, as we entered three NY State Parks, all located near Ithaca, NY.

The first park we entered was Buttermilk Falls State Park, where we saw the waterfall for which the park is named.

Buttermilk Falls

The waterfall was conveniently located near the park entrance. There is a trail alongside the right side of the waterfall; however, it was closed. There is a swimming beach at the base of the waterfall. The beach was closed during our visit. This was our first time to see this waterfall. I hope that we have the opportunity to see it again.

The second park we entered was Taughannock Falls State Park. We entered the park on the Cayuga Lake side, where we enjoyed an expansive view of the lake and boats docked at the marina.

From this park entrance, we drove a short distance to Falls Overlook, where we enjoyed a lofty view of Taughannock Falls.

Taughannock Falls

Taughannock Falls plunges 215 feet past rocky cliffs that tower nearly 400 feet above the gorge.

From Falls Overlook we returned to Cayuga Lake and entered Taughannock Falls at the entrance on the other side of the road. We walked the short distance to the lower Taughannock Falls.

Lower Taughannock Falls

Lower Taughannock Falls

We chose not to walk the ¾ mile trail to the 215-foot Taughannock Falls that we viewed from Falls Overlook, as a steady rain had developed by now. We visited Taughannock Falls one time before in July 2002, with our niece Emily. During that visit, we did walk to the base of the larger waterfall. I hope that we have the opportunity to walk the trail sometime this year.

The third park we entered was Robert H. Treman State Park.

It was a short walk along a tree-lined path to Treman Falls.

There was a swimming beach at the base of Treman Falls.
This beach was open.
We saw a sign that said the water temperature was 60 degrees.

This was the most unique swimming beach we had ever seen. The swimming beach was located at the base of a beautiful waterfall AND there was a diving board at the deep end!

We had a steady rain all day, lighter in the early morning hours and heavier later in the morning and afternoon hours. We didn’t allow the rain to interfere with our plans. What a great day we had!

The Beauty Around Us

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Posts tagged ‘Ithaca NY’

Corning NY Mid-Week Getaway: Day 2 – Cascadilla Gorge

Corning NY Mid-Week Getaway: Day 2 – Buttermilk Falls

Birthday Celebration Day 2 Continued

Five NY State Parks in One Weekend: Buttermilk Falls, Taughannock Falls and Robert H. Treman State Parks