Region's waterfalls soothe, inspire

By Dan Shapley
Poughkeepsie Journal

Considering the disrepair of the trail to Kaaterskill Falls, it's not hard to imagine the millions of feet that have walked there.

For more than 250 years, the 230-foot, two-tiered Catskill waterfall in Greene County has inspired visitors of all stripes -- from early American botanist John Bartram to Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole to '60s counterculture campers who earned it the name ''Hippie City.''

The path from the base of the falls to the top, once a well-traveled route to a mountain house that perched above the falls, is now so deteriorated that it is considered unsafe.

But visitors can and do come to the falls by the thousands every year.

''Niagara, of course, was a great waterfall because it was so huge, and that had been written about in the 17th century. But the Kaaterskill Falls came to have poems written about it, too, and people mentioned it in publications of sorts,'' said Alf Evers, a 97-year-old Woodstock resident and author.

Even with the hotel that once towered over the top of the falls long gone, Kaaterskill is still packed with visitors on weekends during the summer -- but it's just one of several mid-Hudson Valley falls worth visiting.

While none is as central to so many American historical themes as Kaaterskill, small falls played a role in Hudson Valley history, according to Steve Young, a Niskayuna resident who has made a hobby out of visiting and cataloging New York waterfalls.

''New York wouldn't be developed if it weren't for waterfalls,'' Young said. ''Almost every town has a waterfall with a mill that could use the falls. Almost every town up and down the Hudson Valley is there because of a waterfall.''

Settlers even built dams on top of several waterfalls, and Evers told of a time when the owners of a saw mill at Kaaterskill would control the waterfall's flow like tap water.

''They would let the mill pond fill up with water when the water in the waterfall was low and it wasn't much of a sight. Then, when a group of tourists would come, they would turn it on for a fee,'' Evers said. ''They had done that in Switzerland before. It wasn't a pure American invention.''

Waterfalls and mills helped pioneer New Yorkers produce the power needed to manufacture a multitude of goods, from flour to lumber.

Hidden in the Catskill Mountains are waterfalls less spectacular than Kaaterskill, but still worth a visit. They include the 30-foot Bastion Falls, which hikers pass on the short walk from Route 23A to Kaaterskill. And Haines Falls is not far up the road.

The sheer white cliffs of the Shawangunk Mountains in Ulster County are home to four well-known waterfalls more than 80 feet tall, as well as several smaller ones. Shawangunk waterfalls are characterized by straight drops from tall cliffs.

The waterfalls formed, Young said, because the water didn't erode away the hard conglomerate rock of the cliffs.

Falls easy to get to

Awosting Falls, a cascade that spills into a tempting -- but off-limits -- swimming hole at the Minnewaska State Park Preserve, is the easiest Shawangunk waterfall to reach, and among the most spectacular.

Frank Knight, an environmental educator who lives in Cohoes, said Awosting, like Kaaterskill, is appealing both for its beauty and ease of access.

''I love photographing waterfalls, of course. I think every photographer does,'' Knight said. ''The thing that's kind of nice about Awosting is because it's so easy to get to and spectacular.''

Equally impressive but lesser-known falls are tucked away for those willing to hike a ways.

Rainbow Falls, a short detour off the popular carriage roads that lead to Lake Awosting at the Minnewaska State Park Preserve, takes its name from the prism of color that sunlight sometimes causes as the falls careen off a high cliff face.

There's also Stony Kill Falls -- inaccessible to all except the most committed of hikers because it's about a 10-mile round-trip hike. But it may someday be easier to reach.

Institute purchases land

The Open Space Institute and the New York/New Jersey Trail Conference bought land to make the falls more accessible in January 2001, but trails and parking have yet to be made public.

In Ellenville, the Nature Conservancy's Sam's Point Dwarf Pine Preserve holds Verkeerder Kill Falls, the fourth of the Shawangunks falls.

To the east, in the Taconic region, is Bash Bish Falls. It's in Massachusetts, near Dutchess County's northeast corner.

Bash Bish Creek splits around a boulder and falls 80 feet to another off-limits swimming hole. The Hudson River School painter John Kessett popularized the falls with at least five paintings, and the spot always draws a crowd.

On a recent weekend, Tammy Reidenbach visited the falls from Long Island. ''It's just so relaxing,'' she said of the scenery and the sounds around the falls.

Adam Franzone grew up in the area and comes often, simply ''for the beauty of the waterfall.''

For veterans and newcomers, waterfalls have their appeal.

On her first visit from the New York City area to Bash Bish, Jessica Dion, 24, had one word for the falls: ''Awesome.''

DIRECTIONS
There are several books available at local bookstores that feature Hudson Valley hiking trails and waterfalls. Here are directions to some of the waterfalls mentioned here:

Awosting Falls, Stony Kill Falls and Rainbow Falls: They are all at Minnewaska State Park Preserve in Ulster County. Awosting is a short hike from the parking lot. Rainbow Falls is more than two miles from the nearest parking area. And Stony Kill Falls is about five miles from the parking lots. From New Paltz, travel West on Route 299. Turn right onto Route 44/55 and follow to Minnewaska State Park on the left. Maps available at the entrance show trails to waterfalls. The parking fee is $5.

Kaaterskill Falls: It is in the Catskills, in southern Greene County. Take Route 9W north toward Catskill. Turn west on Route 23A. Shortly after a hairpin turn, you'll come upon an unmarked pull-off parking area on the left. The trail is recognizable by the 30-foot Bastion Falls near the road at the trailhead, which is before you get to the parking area. The trail to the falls is less than a mile long.

Verkeerder Kill Falls: It's at the Nature Conservancy's Sam's Point Dwarf Pine Ridge Preserve near Ellenville in Ulster County. From New Paltz, take Route 299 West to Route 44/55. Turn right and follow over the ridge to Route 209. Go south into Ellenville. In Ellenville, turn left onto Route 52. Outside the village, take the first left onto South Gully Road. You'll wind up and around quite a bit before eventually coming to Sam's Point Road, a left. Follow this to the Nature Conservancy parking lot. It's about a three-mile hike to the waterfall.

Bash Bish Falls: It's at Taconic Copake Falls State Park in Massachusetts, just across the New York-Massachusetts line. From eastern Dutchess County, take Route 22 north toward Copake Falls. Turn right onto Route 344 and follow signs into the park. The waterfall is about a half-mile walk from the parking lot.