The Cascades, Onondaga County

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

Moderators: Brenda, Kelly

Post Reply
hayek
Rookie
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:20 am

[important]The landowners have stated this falls is private and permission is not granted to visit. Please do not trespass.[/important]

After finding the no trespassing signs at Peppermill Gulf on Saturday, we had to pick another destination, and this is what we came up with. The guide here lists it as "property status unknown". The only reference I can find to it in the forum is this:
Re: Who are you and what do you do?

Postby chuckerp on Tue May 27, 2008 8:13 pm
I found this site in the Finger Lakes magazine, and I was curious to find out if the falls I grew up exploring was listed. It is! It is the Onondaga county falls listed as the Cascades, located between Berry Rd. and Clark Hollow Rd. The owership is listed as undetermined, but I can tell you that the upper falls is on private land owned by Art Goldsmith of Berry Rd. I don't know exactly how far down his land goes, if he owns all the falls sections or not. We grew up climbing all over the upper falls, from Berry Rd on down, and in the spring when the melt water is running fast, the views from below each cascade are spectacular! There used to be a trail that lead down to the lower cascades, but the gulch walls are fragile shale and the trail has eroded. A climber with rope and harness could easily get down, as the walls are not sheer, just very steep and crumbly. The upper falls from Berry road are more accessible. There once was a mill on the first set of upper falls (grist mill? not sure) and the ruins are still visible. We have hiked the entire length, from the headwater springs that start the streams up on Swift Road, down all the cascades to Jamesville-Apulia Rd. It is a strenuous hike. The common name we know the falls by is "Conklins", although I don't know the source of the name. I don't know the owner name previous to Art Goldsmith, and he has owned the land since at least the early '60s. I could probably check into Family history records, as we Partridge's have been in that area since the 1770's, and Art could almost certainly tell me. I'll have to stop in and ask him the next time I'm up North.
It's on private land all the way between Berry Rd and Clark Hollow Rd. The upper part (which I believe includes all of the falls) is owned by one person, and the lower part must be owned by the dairy farmer on Clark Hollow Rd, because it runs right through his pastures. Downstream from the farm it looks like it runs into a swamp, I'm not sure if you can access it legally (or if you'd want to - definitely no waterfalls there). From there, the creek must flow into the stream that runs along Rt 20 just after Big Bend in Lafayette.

We took the hike with permission, which you should seek if you want to go there. It's a nice creek walk, pretty strenuous because you have to walk back upstream to get out. I took some pictures, which sadly aren't quite as nice as most of yours, but I'm a point-and-shoot, no tripod kind of photographer.

The first falls has two different sections - to the right is a nice cascade, to the left is a drop off an overhang.

[img2]http://i350.photobucket.com/albums/q415 ... /00039.jpg[/img2]

[img2]http://i350.photobucket.com/albums/q415 ... /00037.jpg[/img2]

[img2]http://i350.photobucket.com/albums/q415 ... /00013.jpg[/img2]

[img2]http://i350.photobucket.com/albums/q415 ... /00006.jpg[/img2]

[img2]http://i350.photobucket.com/albums/q415 ... /00022.jpg[/img2]

[img2]http://i350.photobucket.com/albums/q415 ... /00023.jpg[/img2]

[img2]http://i350.photobucket.com/albums/q415 ... /00023.jpg[/img2]

[img2]http://i350.photobucket.com/albums/q415 ... /00027.jpg[/img2]

The pictures might not give a good sense of scale - I'd say the cascade is 150ish feet long and maybe 30-40 vertical feet? These are all from the top - we didn't go to the bottom. You wouldn't like to try to climb down the falls as it's pretty steep and algae-covered. You need to go out of the creek bed a bit to find a little gully that runs down back toward the creek. It looks passable (though quite brushy) from the top. However, from there you would need to seek permission from the farmer because you're getting pretty close to the pastures on Clark Hollow. My friend, who grew up here and has been down the creek many times doesn't think that there are any more falls below.

I'm not sure if you guys are interested in falls that you might not be able to visit, so feel free to delete this if you like, but I thought I'd post as a thanks for this great resource.
User avatar
Matt
President
President
Posts: 13374
Joined: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:01 pm
Camera Model: Olympus OMD EM-1 m1, m2; Panasonic GM5, Osmo Pocket
Location: Rochester, NY
Contact:

This is great info... and good pics too... really puts it into perspective... I'll link our main index to your post.
As long as you ask permission (and I thank you for doing that) posting this info is perfectly fine, and very helpful.
champy1013
Lead Contributer
Lead Contributer
Posts: 708
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 12:45 pm
Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Location: Skaneateles

hmm, just noticed, but this looks a lot like Peppermill Gulf....
Echojnicki
Rookie
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2011 4:13 pm
Location: Westchester

To the people that placed the photos of these falls, the operators of this website and to the people who are intested in visiting them...

We appreciate that there is interest in seeing waterfalls, however, this is PRIVATE property with or without permission. We do not want the liability to us the owners of the property, if there are any accidents, injuries, damage, trash, etc. We have had as such before and do not want the risk. Please remove any photos or listings of this property and our address and telephone numbers. It is not "ok" to list to everyone in the world, or on the web,about our private property and personal information..ie. Address and telephone number, and description of detailed location, without our permission. We were shocked to discover people that we did not know, suddenly showing up on our doorstep asking to go see our falls.
We appologise for any inconvenience, but we would deeply appreciate the removal of anything listed publicly about "the Cascades", or the falls located between XXXX road and XXXX road.

Thank you
The owners Arthur and Stella XXXXsmith
[important]contact information and location removed[/important]
Last edited by Matt on Sat Jul 02, 2011 11:44 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Reason: removed name and general location of this property
User avatar
hobkyl
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2671
Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 8:55 am
Camera Model: Pentax K30
Location: Victor, NY

Hmmm ok. Thanks for making it clear that you are the owners and don't want visitors. In the defense of NYFalls this post is 3 years old. I don't believe the inappropriate posting of the property information here would have resulted in an influx of people coming to visit your property. I apologize if somehow it has...three years later. Please know that the members here are very respectful of landowners and their wishes.

If you look at the original poster...they have only made 4 posts here. They are just a passerby, not a regular member.

Also...by informing what roads you live near...it makes it very easy for the waterfall enthusiast to find where the falls are located. Most likely though your issue is with local kids who have never seen this site. Going with what little information that you gave I easily could find your property and thus the falls. Just saying....you might want to modify your post to remove any and all personal information.
“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. “
--Alison Wat




Flickr Facebook
User avatar
pgflyer1
Senior Guide II
Senior Guide II
Posts: 419
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 5:50 am
Camera Model: Nikon D5500, P510
Location: Memphis, NY

After looking at the photos here, it reminded me of "Newton" falls I shot several years ago. Same type of landscape.
newton falls 04 HD sml.jpg
newton falls 04 HD sml.jpg (213.35 KiB) Viewed 1458 times
This ravine is on private property too. The owner is a friend of mine and will take people down to see it.
Marty
There's no half-singing in the shower, you're either a rock star or an opera diva." - Josh Groban
hartofleon

I can remember these falls from when I was a kid back in the late 60's and early 70's. My brother and I used to go back there with our friends on occasion because it was such a beautiful, natural, unspoiled place. We never brought in any trash, and we never took anything out with us either, we left it as it was. I had visited once since then, and had gotten permission to go back there from the owners, or who I at least believe the owners were at the time. It has been the one greatest memory of my childhood there, a place of absolute peace, and serenity. Out of respect for those who state they are the owners, of course I'll not return there, and I understand your need to protect yourselves from any legal ramifications due to injury. It's just such a shame that a place of this amazing beauty has to stay hidden away from public eyes.
Post Reply