Cavern Cascade

Watkins Glen State Park is located right in downtown Watkins Glen, at the south end of Seneca Lake. There are multiple parking areas available, one on either side of State Route 14 adjacent to the park visitor center, as well as larger lots available a short distance up Route 329 from downtown, and off of Route 409 near the upper end of the gorge (consult a park map for specific directions). From the lower parking lot, simply hike the easy Gorge Trail upstream. Cavern Cascade is encountered approximately one-quarter of a mile from the visitor center.Watkins Glen is rightly one of the most popular natural attractions in western New York State. Over the course of about a mile Glen Creek tumbles through a spectacular narrow canyon with sheer cliffs as much as 200 feet high, and tumbles over numerous waterfalls, most of which can be easily enjoyed from a creatively constructed path which traverses terraces and walkways perched on the side of the gorge. There are said to be 19 waterfalls located within Watkins Glen, though distinctly naming some of these features is stretching the definition of waterfall to quite liberal extremes. Cavern Cascade is the third waterfall encountered in Watkins Glen as one works upstream along the Gorge Trail, as well as the tallest waterfall along Glen Creek, and is almost certainly the most unique waterfall found in the canyon. Here, Glen Creek plunges a sheer 52 feet out of a narrows, over a lip of overhanging bedrock and into a narrow alcove at the base. The Gorge Trail passes behind the falls, close enough that one can reach out and touch the falling water. When standing directly beneath the fall, look up at where the water pours out of the gorge above and note the decaying wooden beams which have been inserted to help prevent erosion of the cap rock directly above the trail. It seems likely that the falls may continue to be slightly modified in order to ensure the integrity of the trail as it passes underneath. Immediately past the falls, the trail makes a fascinating ascent through Spiral Tunnel, which twists 270 degrees around on top of itself via a staircase to reach the gorge above Cavern Cascade. Glen Creek has a moderately large drainage basin, but like many streams in western New York the low elevation and broad farm lands on the plateaus above don’t promote the best ground water retention and as a result the volume of water present in the creek can vary dramatically between seasons. Upstream from the heart of the glen, the creek’s basin covers approximately 22 square miles. There are two small lakes along Glen Creek upstream of the gorge proper, but neither are large enough to contribute meaningful volume to the stream during the dry season. Though the creek flows all year long, unless it has been replenished by passing storms, expect to see a fairly small stream for much of the summer and early autumn months.