Best waterfalls in New York

New York is quietly one of the great waterfall states — Niagara is just the headliner. The Finger Lakes hide gorge after gorge of cascades you can walk right beside, the Catskills inspired a whole school of painters, and the Adirondacks hold wild backcountry falls. Spring and fall are prime, and most are an easy walk.

Kaaterskill Falls260 ftModerate hike · Haines Falls · 1.4 mia two-tier Catskills fall that inspired the Hudson River School painters.Taughannock Falls215 ftShort walk · Trumansburg · 1.5 mitaller than Niagara, in a Finger Lakes gorge near Ithaca.Chittenango Falls167 ftShort walk · Cazenovia · 0.6 mia wide, terraced curtain over 400-million-year-old bedrock.Niagara Falls167 ftRoadside · Niagara Fallsthe iconic thundering border falls; ride the Maid of the Mist.Buttermilk Falls (Ithaca)165 ftShort walk · Ithaca · 0.5 mia long cascade tumbling into a swimming hole at the trailhead.Ithaca Falls150 ftRoadside · Ithacaa broad, powerful fall a short walk from downtown Ithaca.Lucifer Falls115 ftModerate hike · Ithaca · 1.5 mithe showpiece of Robert H. Treman’s gorge trail.Salmon River Falls110 ftShort walk · Altmar · 0.7 mia wide horseshoe plunge in Tug Hill country.Letchworth Middle Falls107 ftShort walk · Castile · 0.5 mithe centerpiece of the "Grand Canyon of the East".High Falls (Rochester)96 ftRoadside · Rochestera thundering fall in the middle of downtown Rochester.Carpenter Falls90 ftShort walk · Skaneateles · 0.6 mia hidden Finger Lakes gorge fall above Skaneateles Lake.Lower Falls (Letchworth)70 ftModerate hike · Castile · 1.5 mithe third of Letchworth’s big falls, reached by a stone staircase.Awosting Falls60 ftShort walk · Kerhonkson · 1.2 mia clean plunge over white conglomerate in Minnewaska.Rainbow Falls (Watkins Glen)60 ftModerate hike · Watkins Glen · 1.5 miwalk under and beside 19 falls in a storybook Finger Lakes gorge.Eternal Flame Falls35 ftModerate hike · Orchard Park · 1.4 mia natural-gas flame flickers in a grotto behind the falls.

Flows change with the season and recent rain — many falls roar at spring snowmelt and slow by late summer. Check conditions and any permit or reservation rules before you go.