Dry Dock Creek falls

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

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Jeduthan
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This waterfall is located at the intersection of Franklin Street and Route 5S in Fultonville. Once summer arrives you can't see this from the roadside of 5S as the trees and underbrush hide it. You can park on Franklin Street where the guardrail starts on the corner leading to Rte 5S. Walk inside the guardrail down towards the creek - you'll find it on the right. The falls are about 12' high. 42.944535 -74.367304.

I suspect this creek doesn't flow when the weather is dry so it's probably best to visit in the spring or after heavy rains. If you decide to negotiate the slope down to the stream bed think a bit about how you will get yourself back up. The slope is mud, broken shale, and steep. There's no downstream exit either, as the stream disappears under Rte 5S into a culvert that carries the stream under the NYS Thruway and streets of Fultonville, finally reappearing near the Mohawk River.
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Matt
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you can see on the bing map that there are a few more drops upstream as well as what appears to be a small dam (check the topo
http://binged.it/12y9uBg

Interesting that an 1868 map is very different from the current layout. The canal, at the time was separate from the Mohawk River, and ran where the thruway cuts now. On that map, the Falls in on the estate of L. Van Epps
A 1905 map shows more detail of that estate. It looks to be a farm, which would explain the dam on the seasonal creek.

Thanks for posting (and giving me more reasons to investigate old maps :) )
Jeduthan
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This is a picture (albeit not a very good one) that I took from Rte 5S several years ago in late fall. In the distance you can see the other drops. These are well back on private property, and regrettably I didn't have the time to ask permission when I stopped to take the most recent picture of the lowest drop.

There is a historic marker at the base of Franklin Street that bears some information about the Van Epps property and estate. It says the area used to be known as 'Van Epps' Swamp' which I'm sure made Mr. Van Epps somewhat unhappy about the unflattering description of his property.
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Matt
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apparently, fultonville used to be all swamp... construction of the canal allowed the land to drain.

The Van Epps estate was on top of the hill southwest of the falls. There's a farm there with a homestead there in the exact same spot as Van Epp's according to an 1868 map. I don't see any evidence of any mills on the creek at the time. Thought it does look like it flowed under the canal (which is now replaced by the thruway) and the RR in 1905.
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