Waterfall Hero Hikes: Kaaterskill Falls

Kaaterskill Falls is a 230-foot waterfall in two sections on Spruce Creek in Greene County, New York. The waterfall is located in Kaaterskill Wild Forest in Catskill Park.

Hike Length: 1.8 miles

Estimated Time: 1 to 2 hours
Difficulty: Moderate
Location: Kaaterskill Wild Forest (Catskill Park)

Trail Users: Hiking
Dogs: Must be on a leash
Features: Waterfalls (1)
Crowds: High
Warnings: The rocks around waterfalls are very slippery.
Trailhead GPS: 42.19583,-74.06309
Waterfall GPS: 42.19340,-74.06352

Directions:

From Catskill, head west on NY-23A for about 13 miles and turn right on North Lake Road. Drive 1.8 miles and turn right on Laurel House Road. Go 0.4 miles to the parking at the end. Note that parking on NY-23A for the falls is prohibited.

Map:

Hike Description:

From the parking area, pick up the gravel Kaaterskill Falls Trail and go about 0.2 miles to a split. Turn right to stay on the gravel road another 0.1 miles to the overlook. The trail to this point is pretty easy and there is a nice view of the upper drop but can't see the lower drop from here.

To see the whole waterfall, continue back to the split and go right to cross a bridge over Spruce Creek. Across the bridge, turn right and then right again to stay on Kaaterskill Falls Trail as it heads down towards the base. A little over half way down, an obvious path on the right leads to the base of the upper drop. The spray was too much to get a picture, but I did get one looking over the brink of the lower drop.