Hi friends, welcome back to my Catskills series. Our second full day started with some rain so we hung out and enjoyed our coffee before heading to Kaaterskill Falls. This waterfall is the tallest cascading waterfall in New York and has been on my list for a few years. The guidebook in our Airbnb suggested we park at the Mountain Top Historical Society and walk the old train rail to the start of the waterfall trail. This way we didn’t have to worry about illegally parking somewhere or have issues finding a spot. The lot was pretty empty and we headed down the flat, tree-lined trail.
After about a mile we saw the parking lot that is closest to the trail and it looked pretty crowded so maybe we made the right decision to park further away. We passed a ranger station and then the trail split to go to the upper or lower falls. We started with the trail to the upper waterfall viewing platform.
We then headed down a few hundred stairs to the base of the waterfall. This area was very crowded and I’m always amazed by the outfits and footwear I see other people wear. It was very muddy at parts and wet, but thankfully it wasn’t slippery. We found a spot to get our pictures and do some people watching. I was very glad the water was flowing so strongly because I’d seen some videos where it was more of a trickle.
The Kaaterskill Falls is 260 feet tall and cascades over two drops. Some people went up to swim, but we were more than fine just observing. I’m guessing the water was pretty chilly.
After getting our fill of this majestic waterfall, we started our ascent back to the car. It was a slow way up being stuck behind people without real room to pass, but that’s par with the course when you hike on the Fourth of July weekend.
We made it back home and hung by the creek before the rain started to pick back up for the night. It wasn’t the ideal weather for vacation, but at least it cleared all the forest fire smoke. Stay tuned for our final day in the Catskills.
