Waterfall Wednesday: Eagle Cliff Falls

Have you ever had one of those experiences that you’re so close to something that you don’t see it? That’s how I feel about this waterfall. Eagle Cliff Falls in Havana Glen is located less than 10 miles from where I grew up, yet I never realized it was there. I drove by Havana Glen Road must be hundreds of times. It wasn’t until this year after driving by the road several times to visit other waterfalls out that way that I had the thought that because Glen was in the name of the road, maybe it lead to a waterfall. (Words like “Glen” and “Gorge” seem to be pretty good indicators in this region.)

I may have been missing out all these years!

Eagle Cliff Falls is located in Havana Glen Park in Montour Falls, New York. The waterfall is a 41 foot plunge and is roughly 16 feet wide depending on the current water flow.

Havana Glen Park has a beautiful picnic area, playgrounds, ballfields, and a campground. The hike to the falls is pretty short, only about .1 mile each way from the parking area and easy with not too many stairs compared to other parks. There is a small fee during certain times that you leave at the pay station (I think it was $2 maybe).

The hike has many beautiful smaller waterfalls along the trail, such as this one at the entrance of the trail. There’s lots of interesting rock walls in the glen and I was absolutely fascinated by the moss that covered the rocks creating walls of velvety green along the path. Depending on the amount of rain we get, it looks like the park could flood easily in spots. After all of the flooding this summer in the area, I’m not sure how this park fared.

Painting It

A special treat! I forgot I did a timelapse video of when I was painting Eagle Cliff Falls for the project, but found it while I was searching Google for something else (Yay for good SEO!). Anyways, here it is – enjoy! There’s also a full length on my YouTube channel if you’re interested in the slowed down version where I paint and answer questions from Instagram Live.

Why is it Called Havana Glen?

Did you know that the whole town of Montour Falls used to be called Havana? And before it was called Havana the area was referred to as Mill’s Landing after George Mills (also where Millport gets its name). In 1836 the town was incorporated as Havana. Later in 1895 it was renamed to Montour Falls in honor of Queen Catharine Montour, the 18th century matriarch of the Native American Seneca tribe that inhabited the area prior to the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign. WSKG Binghamton has a great 2 min video about the history of Montour Falls, you can watch it here. (Havana Glen retained its name.)

Exciting Announcement!

I’m so excited to share that I was asked to show my work as a new solo exhibition starting this month at First Heritage Federal Credit Union in Corning, NY! The show is in partnership with The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes and guest curated by Erica Unterman!

It will feature 9 waterfalls from my recent series of New York Waterfalls and will be on display September 24th – December 14th with an opening reception on September 28th 5-8pm.

What does this have to do with Havana Glen? Eagle Cliff Falls is one of the waterfalls that is part of the show! Hope to see you there!