Allen Lake State Forest

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

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cbobcat49
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Has anyone ever been here?

There's a picture of a falls in the description on the DEC website here...
http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/63250.html
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Matt
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never heard of it. Interesting... at least one sizable falls. Camping allowed... a possibility for me to hit this spring.
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cbobcat49
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Looks like this one might be a bit challenging to find.

A post from someone on the Olean Area Hiking mailing list...

Although we did not find the falls at Allen Lake Forest we still had a great hike. Not sure exactly what we were looking for we started at the junction of town Line and Gorge Rd and hiked down Gorge Rd until we found the creek that crossed the road. For furture reference there is a parking area at that area so if you are interested that is a good place to start the hike. The hike along the creek is beautiful. The forest is old growth enough so that the hiking is easy going. The creek forms a mini gorge about 30 feet deep, About 3/4 of a mile along we ran into a fork creek that we had to cross in order to keep on going. At that point the hike got a little tough because the banks are quite steep. We continued on for a little bit farther but then decided to turn back because we had about 2 more miles to return to the car. I had some waypoints loaded on to my GPS so I decided to see if I could find a trail that came in on the other side of the creek. We found the trail however it was not maintained and not in very good shape. It actually looked an abandoned road which was quite over grown. We took the road until we came to Gorge Rd. At the intersection we found a camping spot across the road where we had lunch then took Gorge Rd back to the car.

Below is a link to a webpage that will show the track on Google Maps. Enjoy


http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1493932
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Matt
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Interesting info on that odd shaped lake:
Allen Lake is a 58-acre man-made lake located in north central Allegany County. It has a maximum depth of 19 feet and an average depth of 8 feet. It was built on private property in 1958 on the headwaters of an unnamed stream tributary to the Genesee River. New York State purchased the lake in 1963 along with 700 upland acres and added it to state forest land now totaling 2421 acres.

There is an unimproved launch that can handle small trailered boats or cartop boats/canoes. The lake is restricted to the use of electric motors only. Although small boats and canoes are common on the lake, the majority of fishing takes place from the 1,600-foot earthen dike. Has a 25 car parking lot and a seasonal use sanitary facility.

My guess is that the falls is further downstream from that hiker's trail. I don't see it being on that second branch.
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cbobcat49
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My guess is that the falls is further downstream from that hiker's trail. I don't see it being on that second branch.
I think so too. Its probably best accessed from E. River Rd. and then walking the creek upstream. There's probably a good chance of encountering posted signs if taking that route though.
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hobkyl
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That's a nice looking falls! There's also a ravine in the southeast corner of the land which could be a possibility. I tried using Bing, but the imagery isn't too par.
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cbobcat49
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I looked at Bing and Google Earth too. Can't see anything.
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So the DEC website says the falls are in the southwestern corner. So Terrain map makes me think that makes sense and you can come from E. River Rd. The outlet into the river (Spring Pic) makes me think inspiring pics may be best after a rain. Maybe a parking area on the first right turn Saunders makes, if you go North on Saunders off E. River Rd. Bing shows (north view looking south to e.river rd) some steep gullies. Gmaps says this is 69 miles from downtown Rochester. Bring rope for descent in?
Attachments
Spring pic of gorge outlet into river with little flow
Spring pic of gorge outlet into river with little flow
Gmaps pedomter terrain map.
Gmaps pedomter terrain map.
Bing view. Maybe something there?
Bing view. Maybe something there?
Hikers route mentioned above who did not find falls
Hikers route mentioned above who did not find falls
OleanHikerpath.jpg (216.94 KiB) Viewed 13677 times
DEC map of park
DEC map of park
Parking(?) off Saunders at edge of most southern point of park
Parking(?) off Saunders at edge of most southern point of park
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