Trip Planner: USA / New York State / Haines Falls / Nature / Kaaterskill Falls

Kaaterskill Falls, Haines Falls

4.4

#44 of 149 in Nature in New York State

Waterfall Nature / Park

Kaaterskill Falls is a two-stage waterfall of Kaaterskill Creek, located in the eastern Catskill Mountains of New York, on the north side of Kaaterskill Clove, between the hamlets of Haines Falls and Palenville in Greene County's Town of Hunter. The two cascades total 260 feet (79 m) in height, making it one of the highest waterfalls in New York, and one of the Eastern United States' tallest waterfalls.The waterfalls are one of America's oldest tourist attractions, being depicted or described by many books, essays, poems and paintings of the early 19th century. Long before Alexis de Tocqueville's famous essay on America, Kaaterskill Falls was lauded as a place where a traveler could see a wilder image, a sort of primeval Eden. Beginning with Thomas Cole's first visit during 1825, they became a subject for painters of the Hudson River School, setting the wilderness ideal for American landscape painting. The Falls also inspired "Catterskill Falls", a poem by William Cullen Bryant.

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Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

199 reviews

erendream

Loved this. Walk to the falls wasn't too bad but you will need to be in fairly good shape as there are lots of stairs. People of all ages. Parking was bad.. drove around for a half hour trying to get ... more »
REJ62

We had been many times before when you just parked at the end of Laurel House Rd, and followed the rough path to the top of the falls. It was never signposted and could have been pretty dangerous! Now... more »
Raine A

Nice, fairly easy hike, following the creek. Good parking near the head of the trail. The double fall was suprisingly impressive. It was dry season, so not much water, but the rock formation was quite... more »

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