Taughannock Falls State Park

A place to discuss waterfalls. Including the parks that house them and the hikes to get to them.

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Rate Taughannock Falls

1 - Ugly, Not worth the trip
0
No votes
2 - Could be better
0
No votes
3 - OK, See it if you are in the area
1
4%
4 - Beautiful, worth the trip.
8
30%
5 - Must see, worth revisiting
18
67%
 
Total votes: 27
L_G_D
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My point was, how is this waterfall any different than all the others that do not have fences and signs, and actually have trails leading to the top? Sure, people fall off and yes, it costs money to rescue them. Maybe they should start charging them for the rescue effort, I don't know. I just don't get the outrage at the actions of these guys at this waterfall when there are countless others you can do exactly the same thing at and no one seems to mind just because there isn't a fence and signs at those locations.

The bottom line is, people are going to do stupid things and need emergency help. Doesn't matter if it's at the base of a waterfall they weren't "supposed" to be near or out on the highway going too fast or fooling around with fireworks at home. Getting mad because of it seems a bit pointless to me. People are just stupid, fact of life. And if they get killed doing said stupid things? The gene pool is better off, IMO.
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hobkyl
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Not too long ago there were no rescues, and then not long after that there were only primitive type rescues, and now we charge ourselves tens of thousands of dollars for over staffed high tech rescues.

Should rescue be required-the person should be fully responsible for the bill, period. Thus, why hiker insurance should be offered-and at a reasonable rate. You get a lot of coverage for not too bad of a price. $25,000 in coverage should be enough for typical rescue. I would buy it and I am sure that most other adventurous souls would as well.
“There’s an inconsequentiality to our lives that living in the wilderness shows up. Mountain are real, they set their limits, they set ours. They expose us, make us vulnerable and strong at the same time. “
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Matt
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I don't think there is a trail into the upper gorge. You have to climb down. I can see it being easy to get stuck because on one end there is upper falls, and on the other is lower. The rest is sheer cliff. They were able to get down through this area that is a fracture. In spring, that crack is soaked and crumbling. They have to keep rebuilding the fence around it. I can't see anyone getting above taughannock easily.

Also this park is known for rock falls, some which have killed people who were where they weren't supposed to be. I removed wording from my page when I was contacted by a lawyer who was suing the state on behalf of his client who was hit with a falling rock. I can see the state wanting to mitigate lawsuits, and cut their own insurance costs by just keeping people from the most dangerous points of the popular parks. I see upper gorge being one of those risky areas. The state owns it and operates it as an accessible family park, not as a wilderness. It's dangerous. Why even chance letting people f*** around up there?

Hiker insurance is a great idea. And a lot of that is covered by health and traveler's insurance. We have a law requiring drivers to be insured. It doesn't work. I doubt it would be any more effective on hikers, and after all, if you are responsible enough to get hiker's insurance, you probably aren't the type to pull this kind of shit. And if you DID get hiker's insurance I bet it would void the instant you crossed a barrier you shouldn't have.

It's tough for municipalities to uphold since charters usually declare the cost of fire/rescue as part of the public wealth of services offered.I know that a lot of parks have that policy about paying for your own rescue, but people rarely pay. National parks get minuscule amounts for any climber rescues because most climbers they rescue aren't even US citizens. It's tough to bill people who don't live there. Those people from France or Quebec's children could have fallen, gotten a 10/20k rescue and then back to their country. No bill from Tompkins county is going to make them pay for shit.

Both cities of Niagara Falls pay not only for each rescue, attempted rescue, and body recovery, they pay for readiness. They certainly don't bill that attempted suicide. Taxpayers do, and they always will. Because if you are irresponsible enough to get yourself into a situation like that, then chances are you probably aren't the best at other aspects of your life, like buying insurance or paying large bills.
I say.. IQ test everyone.
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Brenda
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There's also the aspect of putting the emergency personnel at risk.
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A new lookout? Top left, taken yesterday. Don't recall there being something up there? It's a wood fence basically
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cbobcat49
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I've definitely never noticed that before.
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us. ~Henry David Thoreau
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Matt
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I checked my photos... yeah.. I don't see that in any of my old pics. I'll have to check it out and see if it serves up any decent vantage points of the falls.
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Matt
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Human remains discovered at state park in Tompkins County
Ulysses, N.Y. -- Authorities are investigating the discovery of human skeletal remains in Tompkins County, the New York State Police said.

The remains were found Wednesday in a wooded area in Taughannock State Park in the town of Ulyssess. State police as well as the New York State Park Police working the case.

Investigators are currently working with the Binghamton University Anthropology Department. The investigation is continuing.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/ ... ounty.html
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