Much like High Falls Gorge, Ausable Chasm is a commercial tourist attraction. It's a bit expensive to get in just to view the falls & chasm and even more if you want to take a rafting or tubing trip on the river.
There used to be a much better view of these falls from a bridge that crossed the river below the power house. It was washed out twice in the same year by floods so they decided to not bother rebuilding it and cut off the most interesting part of the walkway and moved the trail to the top of the chasm. It's too bad because it's much less interesting to walk 100 feet above the water and look down on all the cool stuff at the water's edge. Back in the late 80s when I had last visited, your admission ticket got you the walk down the river, then a boat trip the rest of the way, where a bus took you back to the main parking area. Now, you walk the whole way down unless you buy an extra ticket to take a raft or tube ride down a longer section of the river.
These shots were taken from the bridge that carries the road over the river, it's free to see this view.
Once you get on the trail and walk further down the chasm, you can look back up and see the falls and the road bridge
To be truthful, if all you want to see is the falls, then just park at the free area before the bridge and use the pedestrian access to view the falls. If you get there when there are only a few people, setting up a tripod would probably not be a problem. I honestly don't remember if I did or not, I just remember there were a lot of people and traffic going past, vibrating the bridge and it was brutally hot that day.
Rainbow Falls at Ausable Chasm
- Matt
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That's probably going to be a must-visit for me next spring.
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When I was young, my parents and I would drive to visit my brother in Plattsburgh several times each year, and drove right through this area. We stopped whenever we could so we could see the waterfalls from the free area. I think this was my first real "waterfall obsession" -- I remember begging my dad to stop so we could look at the falls every time. Thinking on it now, this was the first larger waterfall I ever saw (that I remember, anyway). I think I was 9 when we first stopped at Au Sable, and my next "big waterfall experience" was Niagara when I was 11. I do vaguely remember a trip to Treman Park when I was real little, but I don't remember any waterfalls. The only real thing I remember from that trip was my dad carrying me piggy-back while he climbed up some rocks. If I remember right, we were supposed to be meeting my mom and we were late, so Dad took a shortcut across the park instead of following the trails.... It's weird some of the memories we have, and what ones get lost in the shuffle.
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- Eddiebauer
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I have been at the Chasm once when I was not into photography. I have recently spend many months out in that area working. There is actually another waterfall Alice Falls that the Ausable goes over just before it goes over to the Chasm. There is an entrance gate on Rt9 just south of the Chasm you can enter and view Alice Falls also while in the area. Not much farther north is also a great wildlife sanctuary at the Ausable Point Campground right on Rt9 also, if your in the area anyway its worth the stop.
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L_G_D wrote:Wow, nice shot, a lot more water than when I was there. Next time I'm up that way, I'll have to look up Alice Falls, sounds interesting.
I vaguely remember when I was little and we went by the chasm on Route 9... there was one point we were there during spring runoff and MAN was there a lot of water flowing then. I remember it being a very grey day, the water was brown with mud and debris, and it was such heavy flow and such deep water that the falls looked a LOT shorter just because of the volume of water. I've not been back here in at least 20 years. I should take the drive sometime. It's 5-6hrs for me from here. My brother lives in Plattsburgh not too far up from Ausable. I may have to give him a call and go bunk with him for a few days and explore some of the falls up there next summer.
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- Eddiebauer
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