Waterfall Wednesday: Taughannock Falls

Today’s waterfall is one of my favorite paintings that resulted from my 50 New York Waterfalls project. It’s also a favorite to visit.

Taughannock Falls is in Taughannock Falls State Park near Trumansburg, New York. It’s located of Route 89 eight miles north of Ithaca on the western side of Cayuga Lake.

The park is 750 acres and there are hiking trails, camping. cabins, and a lakeside beach. A lot of times you can find fishers along the lower portion of Taughannock Creek.

There are a couple different ways to view the main waterfall of the park, one is from a scenic overlook shown here. This location is has a visitor center with informational displays and public restrooms. In warmer weather it’s a pretty popular spot.

I learned while researching that there are actually three waterfalls in the park – Lower Falls, Taughannock Falls, and Upper Falls (I didn’t know about Upper Falls.)

While Niagara Falls may be the most well known waterfall in New York, Taughannock Falls is 33 feet higher than Niagara Falls. Taughannock Falls stands at 215 feet and is the tallest single-drop waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains.

The falls are surrounded by a stone amphitheater of rocky cliffs that tower nearly 400 feet above the gorge.

The lower trail – the Gorge Trail – is 3/4 mile each way and is a fairly level, easy trail to walk. That’s one thing I like about this park is how accessible it is to the public year round. The trail features two waterfalls – Lower Falls which a 15 foot cascade that can be seen from the road towards the beginning of the trail and Taughannock Falls which is at the end of trail. There’s an observation deck right towards the base of the waterfall so you’re able to get a close look at it and feel the mist.

When I had visited the park last March (actually just a couple days ago this date) it had just snowed. It was fun to visit the park during the wintertime. I kept seeing these little guys along the trail.

I learned recently that there’s a trail that gives an above view of Taughannock Falls. I can’t wait to visit again to see it and the Upper Falls!

Painting Taughannock Falls

It was so interesting to see the waterfall and creek during the wintertime. The water had the prettiest blue color and the different textures between the creek, snow, and rock walls made this painting a lot of fun to complete.

The painting of Taughannock Falls in winter sold, however since it’s one of my favorites I made it into phone backgrounds. (My personal phone has the option that is overlaid with positive affirmations). Both options are available in my Etsy shop (press on the photo below).