Kaaterskill Falls, a two-tiered water
plunge with a slight lefthand turn, is New York state's
highest waterfall. The upper ribbon of water drops a full 175
feet - the same as Niagara Falls -
and the lower falls tumble another 75 feet into a rocky basin.
Kaaterskill was an inspiration for
landscape painter Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School
of painters, the first major
art movement in the United States. The Catskill Mountains were
introduced to the world by these
artists in the mid-19th century. Thomas Cole can be seen at Kaaterskill
Falls in Asher B. Durand's
major work, Kindred Spirits. In the late 1800s, when the
New York State Legislature designated
lands "forever wild,"the Falls were in the first set
of lands protected.
The trickiest part of this short hike for dog owners is the .2-mile
downhill walk from the
parking lot to the trailhead along a narrow roadway making a
hairpin turn. At points this mountain
road is scarcely wide enough for two vehicles. Once on the trail,
it is a sometimes
rugged .7-mile climb to the base of the falls. The beginning
is a manufactured trail up the side
of the fast-flowing Bastion Falls. From the top of these falls
the walk becomes easier through the
hemlock-filled gorge. Many of the dark giants are old-timers
more than 200 years old. The trail
ends splendidly at the Kaaterskill Falls.
The trail to Kaaterskill Falls is located on Route 23A, near
Palenville and Haines Falls.
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