Pam and I went to Plotter Kill Preserve because I had heard there were 3 nice waterfalls. Nice waterfalls was definitely correct and there were six of them!
There is basically one trail here that goes around the whole preserve that’s a combination of the Red and Blue trails… There is also a Green trail and some Red X Trails that Pam called eXtreme because they crossed thru streams and went up and down hills. They were somewhat difficult and added a lot of options for different routes.
We decide to take the trailhead on route 159. So we parked and walked right in! Soon we came to a T in the road and went right to see to the first waterfall (we could hear it as we approached) on the blue trail, the Blue Trail does continue on to make a loop however, we will return this way in our homemade loop. So we doubled back to the T and continue straight to follow the Red Trail which starts off going over a beutiful bridge and will ultimately connect us to the Blue trail making a long loop through the entire park.
After another tenth of a mile, we saw a yellow trail heading downhill to the right went to the base of Upper Falls, I ran down and Pam went ahead.
From below, the Upper Falls was incredibly impressive. This 60-foot waterfall crashes over the cliff and bounces around on lower rocks before finally falling into a shallow pool at its base.
After taking this in, l traced my way back to the trail and up the hill.
A few steps downstream from the hill, it’s possible to get a look near the edge of the 40-foot Lower Falls. This is the best view from the top of the falls, but again, use extreme caution if you opt to view the waterfall from here.
I quickly caught up with Pam and we kept on the Red Trail as it descended towards Rynex Creek. This creek is a tributary of the main waterway here and features its own 40-foot waterfall that flows almost directly into Plotter Kill. This is another waterfall that’s impressive to see from above, but where extreme caution needs to be used if you approach the edge.
We ended up taking the Red Tail and several Red X Trails crossing the streams in 4 different places – we did just have rain so it was good that we had our waterproof boots on or we’d have gotten very wet! Ultimately we took the blue trail back after climbing the new stars at the end of red. I did take an unmarked trail and found 2 amazing more waterfalls after 3 more stream crossings.
This was one of my most favorite hikes in upstate NY. Check out some of the pictures
Directions:
There are a number of trail heads and parking areas, we started at the trailhead pictured on route 159 the map will drop us right there!