Kaaterskill Falls

Kaaterskill Falls is the tallest two-tiered waterfall in New York State, plunging 260 feet in two dramatic drops through a sandstone amphitheater in the Catskill escarpment above the Hudson Valley. The upper tier drops 175 feet into an intermediate ledge pool before a second 85-foot plunge into the lower gorge, creating a spectacle that inspired the Hudson River School of painting in the 1820s when Thomas Cole and Asher Durand set up canvases at the falls base. The 2-mile out-and-back trail climbs steeply from the Laurel House Road parking area, gaining 600 feet through northern hardwood and hemlock forest to a viewing platform at the base of the upper falls. A more demanding scramble route continues up and around the falls to the upper plunge pool, requiring careful footing on wet rock. The falls run at peak flow during April snowmelt and after autumn rain events; summer visits may find reduced flow during dry periods. The state installed a new trail and safety railing system in 2019 after several fatal falls at the site. The adjacent Kaaterskill Clove, a dramatic glacial gorge, can be explored on extended routes that connect to the Long Path and Escarpment Trail above the falls, offering views across the Hudson Valley to the Taconic Mountains in Massachusetts.