Pulpit Falls

Buttermilk Falls State Park is located at the very south end of the city of Ithaca, just east of Route 34 – signs for the park are abundant along the highway. From the parking lot, cross either of the two footbridges below the swimming area and begin hiking up the Gorge Trail. Pulpit Falls is passed about one-third of a mile up from the start of the trail, and can be partially seen at the top of the steep initial climb up the gorge.Buttermilk Creek, like so many others in the Finger Lakes area, courses down a narrow gorge as it descends into the glacially carved valley occupied by Cayuga Lake at the south end of the city of Ithaca. What makes the various falls of Buttermilk Creek unique is the structure of the gorge. The creek descends about 430 feet in just over two-thirds of a mile, dropping over at least eight distinct waterfalls. Initially the falls start as small plunges and cascades, but as the stream descends the falls get progressively taller, wider, and less steep. Pulpit Falls is the third falls encountered along Buttermilk Creek as one hikes up the Gorge Trail alongside its various falls. The falls drop in two steps, first as a narrow plunge which pours about 10 feet out of the narrow slot canyon at the top of the falls, and then the creek spreads out across a bulbous protrusion of bedrock and plunges another 30 feet over the dome shaped rock which gives the falls its name. Unfortunately the Gorge trail does not afford clear views of the falls from its various viewpoints high up on the rim of the canyon. Partial views are available through the trees from various locations, but none are terribly engrossing, which is unfortunate considering how visually unique the falls are. The drainage basin for Buttermilk Creek covers an area of about 11-1/2 square miles in area, and while it does hold a couple of small ponds and bogs, there are no large sources of standing water feeding the creek. This results in the stream varying in volume considerably as the seasons progress. By late summer the creek can be reduced to just a trickle, though we haven’t seen evidence that it has a tendency to dry out entirely.