Taughannock Falls State Park | New York Finger Lakes Region

After the beautiful Buttermilk Falls, our second New York State Park stop was Taughannock Falls:
A 215 foot vertical waterfall at the end of a wide and wood gorge that flows into Cayuga Lake.

As far as state parks go, this one was very developed along the Cayuga Lake shore, with a marina, boat launch, fishing pier, modernized facilities such as "Comfort Stations," concessions and rentals, even a concert area, play fields, and a massive playground for kids.   (Which goes against my grain.. I think that they are in a park like this to have nature as their playground.. not a mega-man-made play area.) 
Oh, well.  We steered clear of that area and took to the Gorge Trail.

These are small falls at the start of the Gorge Trail, as the Taughannock creek (pretty wide for a creek) nears Cayuga Lake.   

From here, we followed the 3/4 mile gorge, a very level, enjoyable stroll through tall trees.
A good portion of the walk could even be done down on the wide, smooth creek bed.


Tadpoles were gathered in shallow pools.

The gorge itself makes for a beautiful experience.  The walls around us were quite high as we walked further in.

At the end of the 3/4 mile walk  - the 215 ft. waterfall.


The more dry, flat creek bed & canyon made for a much different experience than the mossy, wet, twisting Buttermilk Falls.  But the fall at the end was spectacular & made for a nice sound and spray in the air.

After walking back and heading out on our way again.. we found a roadside view of the same falls from up on the rim.    There were way too many people congregated in this small viewing spot, but I managed a quick photo.

Next stop - our favorite of the trip - Watkins Glen!!

Buttermilk Falls Sate Park | Upstate New York's Finger Lakes Region

Our first State Park stop while in New York Saturday was Buttermilk Falls, near Ithaca.
I didn't have a tripod with, so I did my best at free handing things and getting dirty, crouched down over rocks & ledges to capture the falls.  I also had on my cheapest, oldest, and most scratched up old kit lens.  (I am so relieved to find that some photos turned out.)  
We enjoyed a 1.5 mile walk through the Gorge Trail, following the Buttermilk Creek upward as it's cascades drop about 500 feet. 
It was beautiful!   Enchanting, even.   



Buttermilk Falls is part of the Finger Lakes Region, near Cayuga Lake (one of the deepest lakes in America.)  Gigantic glaciers carved this landscape of long, deep cutting lakes, waterfalls, streams & pastoral land over thousands of years.
In 1924, Robert and Laura Treman donated 154 acres in Buttermilk Glen to the Sate of New York for a state park, since then the park has grown to 792 acres.

We lucked out that our quick trip fell when Upstate New York was full of spring blossoms & blooms.  Lilac, apple and dogwood trees were flowering everywhere we went.

Many of their woodland wildflowers are the same as here in northern MN.  We saw wild honeysuckle clinging to the rocks, trillium growing under the trees, as well as a few New Yorkers that I've never seen before.




I loved the perfectly circular pools carved out by nature here & there.



And we found it awesome that you can just keep walking for a mile, with more cascades around every turn.



And because I'm never pictured, and because I was so happy to be there -
here I am.  ☺


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Five facts : From New York

1.  We left home early this morning, traveled to Minneapolis, hopped on a flight to Washington DC, connected to Syracuse, and I'm typing from upstate New York tonight.  From the banks of the Susquehanna river.

2.  This is my first visit to NY, and I am absolutely in awe.  It is green and beautiful.

3.  I'm posting from a tablet.  It is challenging for me to use, and even more so to post from.  No pictures or linking today.

4.  A short notice, spur-of-the-moment trip, we had just over 24 hours notice to get all our ducks in a row and make arrangements to get to New York.   Tomorrow we'll explore some of the Finger Lakes Region, as we begin our drive back home. 

5.  This was supposed to have posted Friday night, but did not!  ☺ 
After our flight and arriving to our destination & completing the purpose of our trip late Friday night,  we crammed in miles of hiking and climbing through three New York State Parks Saturday, and made it to Buffalo late, late at night. 
Sunday morning we started our trip back home, taking in Niagara Falls, and making our way through all of the Great Lakes, arriving home before dark Monday night.    (We were in a hurry to get back for the kids' baseball games, which - go figure - are canceled due to rain.)  
I deeply regret not being able to spend more time making the most of the travel.    But it was a fun & beautiful few days. 
I'm about to start loading photos.  Hopefully a few of them turned out!