Buttermilk Falls State Park – Ithaca, NY -August 9
Buttermilk Falls State Park takes its name from the foaming cascade formed by Buttermilk Creek as it flows down the steep valley side toward Cayuga Lake.
We started with the upper part of the park where we walked the Lake Treman trail. The road to get there was closed, so we walked the road to get to the trail. The trail was 1.5 miles and the walk to get to it and back added probably another ½ mile to our hike.
the top of the small falls was the road
We stopped at a picnic site to get a better look at a small waterfall, before continuing on the loop trail around the lake.
It was a nice hike once we got up the first flight of stairs. There were only occasional views of the lake and in some areas, it was barely a creek. We did come across a Muskrat in the water. He was pretty far away so the photos aren’t great.
close-up of the rock walls
the stairs to the trail
muskrat
After we finished the hike it was lunch time and we grabbed salads at Panera. After lunch we visited the lower park which has a campground and a natural pool. The Buttermilk Falls was really interesting. We hiked up to the top for better views on part of the Gorge Trail. There were many layers making up the Falls. There were lots of locals enjoying the natural pools. (65* water)
natural swimming pools
We then walked to Larch Meadows which was another mile and a half. It was a bit of a wetland area through a gentle trail of mostly mowed meadow. We did see some Northern Flickers and a few butterflies. Our hike came to a halt where a huge tree had fallen across the path. There was no getting around it, so we turned around and retraced our steps back to the parking lot. We thought we could walk the other part of the trail from the other end, but there was no path in site. We were pretty hiked out anyway, so we went back to the same ice cream shop for desert before heading back to the hotel.
dragonfly was dying and a wasp was attacking him
fallen tree on the trail
the broken tree trunk
Song Sparrow
Northern Flicker
https://photos.app.goo.gl/bgLjen6yWVaheHPn9
Tomorrow, we leave for Plattsburgh, NY.
No comments:
Post a Comment