Montville Falls / Decker Creek Falls - Cayuga County

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

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Rate Montville Falls / Decker Creek 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
0
No votes
4 - Beautiful, worth the trip.
4
67%
5 - Must see, worth revisiting
2
33%
 
Total votes: 6
mbroughton02
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A more natural entry point is where the creek crosses under the state road downstream in the center of the village. I observed exactly one no trespassing sign here, on the lawn of a house and set well back from the road. The apparent address is 65 East Cayuga St. Obviously the road and the bridge are a public right of way. It appears possible to follow the right of way from the street, hugging the edge of the bridge, down into the creek, without trespassing. It is probably possible to do this from either bank, though I did not get out of the car to check as I'd already done my creekwalk using the somewhat treacherous cemetery access
You are correct that if you stay close to the bridge, you are not on private property. However, when he yelled at me, I was working my way upstream towards the falls, which takes you past his house. His house is the one on the right if you are standing on the bridge looking upstream, with the "No Trespassing" signs plastered on the old mill building. He told me he owned the creek, but I do not know if this is true. I did some research at the time and found that in NYS, if a creek is wide and deep enough to canoe, it is public right-of-way for those purposes, regardless of whether it flows through someone else's property. I would say this creek is borderline canoe accessible, so its a huge grey area.

Yes, the hike down from the cemetery is steep and the soil is loose, but I still prefer that route to the possibility of dealing with the landowner.
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Matt
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bremer wrote: Image
Love this shot!
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jroz
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This is one of the shots I took there a few years ago, back when I was still shooting film.
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bremer
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Thanks Matt! Its too bad most of the flow is diverted around Montville. I think there must be a short window for catching both green trees and good flow.
"Now I see the Secret of the making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth" - W. Whitman
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OakTimber
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If you walk up Decker Creek a good ways past the other pictures in this posting you are in for a real treat
DSC_0265sm.jpg
DSC_0265sm.jpg (250.64 KiB) Viewed 7106 times
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hobkyl
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Wow! Nice :up: welcome to the community OakTimber!
“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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hobkyl
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I have permission to access these falls from the property owner; hope to make it this year. :joy:
“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




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champy1013
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Let me know when you go, I'll join you, it's only about a 15-20 min drive from my place
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