| County: |
Franklin |
| Town: |
Chateaugay |
| USGS Map: |
Chateaugay |
| Waterway: |
Chateaugay River |
| Latitude: |
N 44.90921o
|
| Longitude: |
W 74.08695o |
| Drop: |
120' |
|
One of the many High Falls in northern New York, this one is quite
impressive. As you travel west on US Route 11 in the village
of Chateaugay, you will cross the Chateaugay River. The
first left after the bridge is Franklin County Route 22.
Almost immediately after turning on this road, the first left is
Cemetery Road. This will end at a "T". Take
another left and you will come to the entrance of High Falls Park
on the left.
To access the waterfall, you must enter through the park store,
which is at the end of a short entrance drive. There is a
modest charge of $2 for adults (in 2011), $1 for students and age 55 and
over. Although many waterfall lovers would rather see falls
in the wilds, the charge at this privately run campground is very
reasonable and well worth it. As a private facility, it is
only operated seasonally. They are only open May 1 through
October 15, later if mother nature allows it.
The hike to the falls is less than 2/10 of a mile, but the last
350 feet or so is a stairway to the bottom of the gorge.
There were either 208 or 209 steps, depending who in our party was
counting, comprised of a combination of wooden and natural stone
steps. The walk down wasn't bad, but coming back up could
wind the less agile! Considering the convenience of these
steps, you will appreciate the modest admission charge. This
would be one difficult trek without them.
Made up of four steps, this 120' cascade is nothing
short of beautiful. The best views of it are from the base
but you can also access it on an upper trail and see the dam above
it and the top of the falls.
The Chateaugay River flows north and crosses the NY-Canadian
border just a few miles downstream from this site. It then empties into
the St. Lawrence River near Montreal.
The Chateaugay is actually one of the smaller rivers in
northern New York. Its
source is just a few miles upstream where numerous streams feed
the Upper Chateaugay Lake, just across the line in neighboring
Clinton County. The
water then flows into a river-like area known as the Chateaugay
Narrows and then into the Lower Chateaugay Lake before the
Chateaugay River officially begins in Franklin County.
Generally flowing north after leaving High Falls, the
Chateaugay enters the Canadian province of Quebec, where this
French speaking region knows it as the Châteauguay.
The distance from the source to High Falls is roughly the
same as the distance from High Falls to the Canadian border.
If you take the Narrows and two lakes out of the equation,
there is slightly more to this river in Canada than there is in
the United States.
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