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Gorge Trail

Taughannock Falls State Park, New York

The base of Taughannock Falls, reached via the 0.7-mile Gorge Trail, grants the hiker an impressive view of the 215-foot waterfall from below—the towering vertical falls plunge through a rock amphitheater, whose walls reach nearly 400 feet, into a pool 30 feet deep.

The Gorge Trail, an interpretive trail with several informative signs, leaves from the parking area off Route 89—hike west along the paved (which soon gives way to dirt )path that leads into the high-walled gorge. At 0.1-mile an impressive 15-foot ledge spans the width of Taughannock Creek (a massive river reaching 75-100 feet wide)—the falls at this location (Lower Falls) offer just a taste of the impressive waterfall at trail’s end.

Continue hiking along the base of the steep wooded slopes—hemlock and a mixed hardwood forest of maple, oak, sycamore, and basswood dominate the landscape. Eventually the forest views yield way to open vistas of the skyward-stretching cliffs—predominantly sandstone and shale, the layered look of the cliffs compliment the ripple-like pattern of the creek bed.

Your hike along the Gorge Trail ends when you cross the footbridge spanning the creek to reach the Taughannock Falls Lookout—the platform, 300 feet from the base of the falls, provides a spectacular view of the soaring waterfall. Taughannock Falls, one of the highest free falling waterfalls in the northeastern United States, stands 33 feet higher than Niagara Falls—a humbling way to bring a hike to a halt if ever there was one.

After enjoying the magnificence of the towering falls, return the way you came for a roundtrip hike of 1.4-miles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
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