Taughannock Falls reaches a height of 215 feet. In Robert H. Treman State Park, Lucifer Falls sets a second benchmark at 115 feet; the park has twelve waterfalls in total. In Tompkins, you can experience both the height of a single waterfall and the distinctive abundance of falls in one park.

Waterfalls, Gorges and Rock

In Enfield Glen, the Treman Gorge in Robert H. Treman State Park, the rocks consist of shale and sandstone formed in the Late Devonian. This landscape can also be viewed through a geological lens: the rock types and when they formed add a second, deeper timescale to the waterfalls. The Old Mill in the park, built in 1839, offers a specific historical point of reference.

Buttermilk Falls State Park also brings together water and landscape history. It owes its name to a foaming cascade formed by Buttermilk Creek as it flows toward Cayuga Lake. Larch Meadows shows another side of the park: a nature trail runs through the wetland. The cascade and wetland represent different types of landscape, so you need not focus solely on waterfalls.

Trails, Wetlands and Birdlife

Different habitats meet at Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary. The 425-acre nature preserve includes forests, ponds and marshes, as well as abundant wildlife. The Wilson Trail is a 0.75-mile loop around Sapsucker Woods Pond. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology also holds weekly guided bird walks there, on Saturdays and Sundays at 8:30 a.m.

For plant enthusiasts, Mundy Wildflower Garden adds another dimension to the natural landscape. It includes floodplain forest and a wet meadow landscape with plants native to the Cayuga Lake basin. A different scale of trail awaits at Shindagin Hollow State Forest, where about five miles of the Finger Lakes Hiking Trail run through the forest. These figures describe different things: 0.75 miles is the length of the Wilson Trail loop, while about five miles refers to the section of the Finger Lakes Hiking Trail in the forest.

The Cayuga Trail, in turn, follows Fall Creek Gorge from the Cornell campus to the Town of Dryden. Its stated endpoints give the trail a different character from the loop around Sapsucker Woods Pond: here, the defining feature is the connection between two places; there, it is a loop around a pond.

Discover Ithaca and Get Practical Information

You can also discover history on foot. The History Center in Tompkins County offers a ten-block walking tour of downtown Ithaca focused on the history of Prohibition. Its clearly defined length and subject give the tour a different profile from trails through forests, gorges and wetlands. Along with the Old Mill, built in 1839, these offer two distinct historical points of reference: a tour on a specific topic and a single building with a specific construction year.

There is a practical seasonal note for the Cayuga Nature Center: in summer, it is served by TCAT Route 22, and the stop is number 2932. If you plan to use this connection, check the seasonal schedule before your visit. For bird walks at Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary, you can plan to join on Saturday or Sunday at 8:30 a.m. The trails, tour and natural areas offer different ways to get to know Tompkins through its landscapes, wildlife and history.

Discover more destinations: Ithaca, Dryden, Brooktondale, Trumansburg, Lewis, Orange, Wayne County, Genesee.

For the overview of the wider region: New York.