Head To Ithaca, New York To Experience 150 Waterfalls Within 10 Miles

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Ithaca, New York has so many waterfalls that the region has a catchphrase: Ithaca is Gorges. Get it? Gorges. Gorgeous. In fact, there are 150 waterfalls within a 10-mile stretch of Ithaca.

The college town in upstate New York has a sleepy reputation, but that works perfectly for exploring waterfalls. Small towns like Ithaca provide all the goods you need for a hike and a picnic. You’ll find coffee shops for caffeinating before your treks, farmers markets for stocking up on goods to eat from the trail and breweries for an end-of-day drink.

Since there are so many waterfalls condensed into a small area, you can feasibly see quite a few of them in one trip. But if you have to pick a few, we have ideas for which ones we’d recommend.

Taughannock Falls State Park

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Taughannock Falls State Park is home to a 215-foot waterfall, which the river of the same name carved through a 400-foot gorge. While you can’t swim in these majestic falls, you can swim in nearby Cayuga Lake. And don’t be tempted to take a dip here anyway — it’s far too dangerous. The falls are three stories taller than Niagra Falls.

Ithaca Falls

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This waterfall is easily viewable from the highway passing through Ithaca, but it’s worth pulling off from the road and walking to the actual falls. Ithaca Falls are 100 feet tall and more than 175 feet wide. It’s a year-round attraction, between the snowmelt in the spring, warm summer breezes, autumn foliage in the fall and frozen icicles in the winter.

Potters Falls

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The best waterfall where you can swim is Potter’s Falls. It’s located inside a wildflower preserve, meaning the spring and summer seasons are exquisite. But the actual 25-foot waterfall is a popular local spot for actually getting in the water, as well as sunbathing on the rocks surrounding the pool.

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