The May of 2018 was a rare period of downtime in my life. The school semester had come to an end, and it was right in between the end of my job during the school year and before the start of my summer employment. With the weather finally getting warmer and a shrinking list of responsibilities, I wanted to get back out on to the trails.

My friend Alec was back in the county on a vacation from work on his own, and had pitched the idea of making a trip up to the Catskills. I had never been, but I was always up for a new hiking adventure, and I had heard quite a few people singing the praises of Kaaterskill Falls up in the mountain range that I figured this was as good of a time as any to check it out for myself.

After a futile attempt of getting others’ schedules to work with our plans, Alec and I set out northbound from Westchester to Greene County. Despite the less-than-ideal point of origin that has you walking along the highway from the parking lot to get to the head of the trail, I knew we made a good choice immediately from the vast and vibrant sea of green that surrounded every direction you look in:

After surviving a game of real-life Frogger, we arrived at the trail and were immediately greeted by a stream cascading over rocks that is referred to as Bastion Falls. As the name of the trail suggested, waterfalls were to be expected. But while the titular Kaaterskill Falls awaited further along the trail, these falls were a visually enjoyable welcome sign in their own right.

The water source for the Bastion Falls accompanied us for most of the trek, as the trail runs mostly parallel to the water bed. Alec felt the stream served as a great backdrop for a mid-hike photoshoot.

We continued onward, until about half an hour after parking the car we caught our first glimpse of the main attraction: Kaaterskill Falls looming magnificently overhead.

We took the opportunity to enjoy lunch at the foot of the falls. There’s not much that I describe as breath-taking, but that first view of Kaaterskill fits the bill. Photos simply don’t do justice to the beauty (and the sheer size) of the waterfall.

After re-fueling, our trek continued up closer to the falls. From our rest stop, there’s a giant rock staircase that climbing up will bring you to the second tier of the waterfall. Heeding the signage that guided the way…

 

…we stuck exclusively to the marked trails to reach the next summit.

More well-equipped hikers took the opportunity of adventuring to the pool of the falls to go for a swim. We opted to keep our feet (and everything else) dry and just soak up the views. Despite the waterfall making a picturesque finale to the excursion, we weren’t quite done yet. Hopping back on the path took us to the upper trailhead, a fairly-recent addition to the site. At the end of it sits the overlook that might look familiar to some of you frequent site visitors, as well as some of the best views of the day.

As part of the upper trailhead developments, a new parking area was built to allow more direct access to the top of the falls, all while avoiding the traffic-dodging that began our trek. No matter which point of origin you decide to take, you’re doing yourself a disservice by not exploring the trail from origin to summit, or vice versa.

In 1994, R&B trio TLC warned everyone to “don’t go chasing waterfalls.” Fifteen plus years later, I suggest you make an exception to that rule and make your way up to Kaaterskill.

The parking area for the lower Katterskill Falls trail head is located on Route 23A, in Haines Fall, New York. Once again, Hike the Hudson Valley has you covered with exceptional trail guides for both the path we took as well as the upper trailhead to properly guide you through the falls from both directions.