Five Cascades

Five Cascades is the second waterfall along Kaaterskill Creek as it crashes down the head of Kaaterskill Clove. The falls live up to their name, stepping down a five-tiered set of falls in a short distance. In the late 1800s Five Cascades was a popular destination among visitors journeying to the top of Kaaterskill Clove, featuring walkways and ladders mounted adjacent to the falls to aid in climbing up and down its various levels. Accounts from this time placed the height of the falls at a staggering 475 feet, however current topographic maps show this to be a physical impossibility - even taking the 100-foot drop of Haines Falls found just upstream into account, the total height of the drops along this section of Kaaterskill Creek wouldn't approach 475 feet without including a considerable run of relatively placid stream extending far downstream from the falls. In reality Five Cascades looks to have a total drop somewhere in the order of 150 feet, give or take. There is no easy way to access the falls, but the falls lie at least partially on public land and can be legally accessed from downstream (whereas Haines Falls just upstream is located on private property).One of the pools below one of the main tiers of the falls was at one time known as Naiad's Bath. This name has at times past been seen as referring to a specific waterfall along Kaaterskill Creek as well, but it appears that the proper title was just for that of the pool and not any of the falls.