Carpenter Falls

Carpenter Falls is located on the west side of Skaneateles Lake. From the town of Skaneateles, take Route 41A south for 15 miles then turn left onto Appletree Point Road and continue for a half mile to the parking area on the left, across from the junction with Carve Road. From the parking area, take the trail heading left and quickly reach a multi-pronged junction. The path to the left stays high above the creek and leads to vistas of the falls from above, adjacent to the cliff in about 200 yards. Note that this path is slick and slopes off steeply in places and is not suitable for children. The path to the right descends to the base of the falls in approximately the same distance.Carpenter Falls is one of the Finger Lakes’ most renowned waterfalls, though it’s far from famous due to its out-of-the-way location and more rustic trail system. The falls occur as Bear Swamp Creek is funneled into a 5-foot wide notch in the cliff and then shot outward, plunging 77 feet over a broad overhanging outcrop of the Tully Limestone formation, 10 feet thick in this particular location. Beneath the caprock the bedrock has been undercut and a broad cavern spans behind the falls. The trail system which accesses Carpenter Falls is maintained, but not constructed to the standards of some other locations in the region. Much of the trails were formalized user-paths which traverse steep hillsides and are heavily eroded, steep, and slick in places. There are no safety barriers, so those with less than sure footedness should exercise appropriate caution when visiting the falls. Bear Swamp Creek drains from an area covering about 8 square miles, and as its name suggests much of that area is occupied with swamps and marshes. This ensures that outside of prolonged periods of drought, the stream typically retains at least a modest flow. When surveyed in late May of 2018 the creek was found to be flowing quite adequately and the falls presented themselves well. By August however, one should expect the flow to be reduced to perhaps just a trickle without heavy precipitation to replenish the basin.