The Adirondack Mountain Reserve is the home of the Ausable Club, a private and fairly exclusive organization.  The AMR was formed in 1887 to preserve the mountain area from the lumbering industry and as a game preserve.  As a game preserve, they do not allow dogs on the premises.  This prohibition is a longstanding one and is strictly enforced.  It is also home to the Adirondack Trail Improvement Society (ATIS), which developed and maintains many of the trails into the Adirondack high peaks.  

Although hunting and fishing is prohibited within the AMR, easements are in place allowing access to trails to the high peaks area.  There are, however, several restrictions.  When we were there in April 2012, there were signs prohibiting things like cell phones, blackberries, PDAs and headphones for music players.  It is our understanding that these signs have been removed, so if you are coming into this facility, make sure you read the regulation signs.  

The trailheads to many of the high peaks are accessed through this property.  Armstrong Mountain, Basin Mountain, Dial Mountain, Gothics, Lower Wolfjaw Mountain, Mount Colvin, Mount Haystack, Mount Marcy, Mount Skylight, Nippletop Mountain, Noonmark Mountain, Round Mountain Saddleback Mountain, Sawteeth and Upper Wolfjaw Mountain are all here.  In addition, waterfall lovers will find a number of beautiful falls here.

Since the access of all of these falls are from the same place, we have opted to provide this page for the common information.  There are separate pages for each of the falls.  From the parking area, you start with about a half-mile walk up the road to the club grounds.  As you approach the St. Hubert's Inn, the property clubhouse, the Lake Road will be on your left.  There is a tennis court on that corner.  0.15 mile from this corner, there is a gate house where you will need to sign the register.  You are only a few hundred feet from the Ausable River's East Branch at this point.

IMPORTANT UPDATE ... On May 3, we were contacted by Tony Goodwin, with the ATIS and several other Adirondack related organizations.  Effective this year (2021), "there are more restrictions - specifically the need for a reservation between May 1 and October 31.  The good news is that a reservation guarantees a parking space whenever one shows up, but this reservation must be made at least 24 hours in advance and not more than two weeks in advance.  Reservations can be made at: hikeamr.org."  Please note that this is not just in regard to the waterfalls within the AMR.  It includes "any peak accessed from the Ausable Lake Road plus Noonamark and Round Mts, if accessed from the AMR trailhead."

The Ausable flows from the southwest to the northeast through this valley.  The East River Trail and Lake Road provide access to the side on which you enter and the West River Trail traverses the other side.

It is important to note that all of the named waterfalls in the reserve are actually on tributaries of the Ausable's East Branch.  There are dozens of cascades on the Ausable.  This section of the river is literally one waterfall after another.  Many of them are small, but some of them are significant.  There were so many that we decided not to include all the pictures we took.  one particular waterfall however, was very nice and we took so many pictures of it, we decided to include a separate page.  It was the biggest waterfall we saw that was actually on the Ausable.  We saw it from the West River Trail but it is our understanding it is better seen from the East River Trail.  It is the only waterfall visible from that side. 

The pictures on this array are of sights we saw on the hike.  The first three after the picture of the trail marker are of an unnamed waterfall that is on a creek that is so small it isn't even on topographical maps.  There probably isn't much more water coming down here then the average garden hose might put out, but the drop is impressive.  It comes over a number of rocks and then through a small opening and then down ... straight down, a sheer rock wall.  The pictures of this aren't that good, but the landscape didn't really allow a good vantage point.  This is on the West River Trail between the outlets of the Pyramid Brook and the Wedge Brook.

It is a personal decision as to how many of the falls you choose to visit.  Due to the intensity of the hike to get to these locations, it makes a lot of sense to take in several of the locations at once, rather than make a separate trip for each one.  After all, you literally walk by three major waterfalls on the West River Trail to get to Rainbow Falls.  Attempting all on one day would be a monumental effort but has been done.   We recommend that you make two trips, one for each side, and that is how we have set up the directions for each waterfall.  Please note that it is still a healthy work-out to do it this way.

West River Trail ... From the gate house, take a right.  You will cross a footbridge to the West River Trail.  From here, you will find trails to Pyramid Falls, Wedge Brook Falls, Wedge Brook Cascades, Beaver Meadows Falls and Rainbow Falls.  You will also see the unnamed falls on the Ausable between Wedge Brook and Beaver Meadows Falls.

East River Trail ... This trail follows the river, although in most spots, you are high above it.  It is a rigorous hike but if you are looking for waterfalls, not the best route.  Whereas the West River Trail takes you to the above mentioned trailheads, the trailheads on this side of the river are more easily accessed by the Lake Road.  If you do choose this route, follow the Lake Road past the guard house until you get to signs directing you to the East River Trail.

Lake Road ... Going straight at the guard house will take you to the trailhead for Gill Brook, which contains Gill Brook Steps, Gill Brook Flume and Artists Falls.  Fairy Ladder Falls is further up this trail.  An alternative is to cross the footbridge at the base of the dam at Lower Ausable Lake after you view Rainbow Falls.  When you get to Lake Road, Fairy Ladder Falls is further up to your right.  The Gill Brook locations will be to your left on the way out.  As previously mentioned, taking in all the falls on both sides would make for a long day.

The East Branch of the Ausable River joins forces with the west branch downstream at Au Sable Forks to form the Ausable River.  This waterfall rich river empties into Lake Champlain in the town of Peru.

Last update:  May 3, 2021

Hover on any of the thumbnails to see an enlarged image