Bastion Falls

Follow Route 23A west from its junction with Route 32A in the town of Palenville and up Kaaterskill Clove. After 3.3 miles the road crosses Lake Creek immediately below the falls, with the trailhead to Kaaterskill Falls beginning just south of the bridge. There is no parking here, so continue up the hill along 23A for another quarter of a mile to the designated parking lot and walk back down the road - being mindful of traffic - to the bridge and trail.Bastion Falls is the most accessible and most prominent waterfall in Kaaterskill Clove, dropping 71 feet in two steps along Lake Creek adjacent to where Route 23A makes a sharp switchback across the creek as it climbs towards the highlands upstream. The double-drop falls will take on a wide variety of appearances depending on how much water is currently flowing down Lake Creek. During periods of high flow the upper falls sheets out in a broad curtain, while the creek splits into two channels before falling over the lower falls; the left side plunging nearly vertically while the right side cascades down a chute adjacent to the trail in a more gradual fashion. During the summer and early autumn months however the creek will be greatly reduced in volume and the falls will appear much more narrow and seem to weave its way through and around the huge boulders which line the creek around the falls.Bastion Falls has been long recognized as the correct name for this waterfall. At one time it was known as Rip Van Winkle Falls, and then at a later date was referred to as Horseshoe Falls after the sharp, sweeping curve in the Kaaterskill Clove Road where it crosses Lake Creek at the base of the falls.