According to Webster's Dictionary, a waterfall is "a fall, or perpendicular descent of the water of a river or stream, or a descent nearly perpendicular; a cascade, a cataract."  Further definitions of cascade and cataract both use the word precipice, whose definition includes the term "headlong fall."  Accounts in the Encyclopedia Britannica support this definition.  When all of this is taken into consideration, it appears that many of the waterfalls in Northern New York are actually rapids.

Having said that, for the purposes of this website, we are taking on a broader definition.  If it is a named waterfall in Northern New York, we will include it here.  If it is not a named waterfall, it will still be included if the vertical fall of its path is equal to or greater than its horizontal flow.  Furthermore, if there is a considerable vertical drop, even over a considerable horizontal flow, it will still be included.  It is interesting to note that many unnamed waterfalls are found on topographical maps and are indicated simply as "falls".  Many of these are smaller than a number of falls that aren't even listed.  There doesn't seem to be a standard as to how or why these were included on these maps when they were originally developed.

We don't mean to make light of this or to upset the diehard waterfall purist.  This website is more concerned with the aesthetics of falling water rather than the geological, engineering or technical aspect of the discussion.  For that reason, we are also including named rapids.  After all, rapids are falling water where the flow is not falling vertically as fast as it is running horizontally.

Originally, it was our intent to also include a discussion of the types and classifications of waterfalls.  After a bit of research, it was discovered that many waterfall websites and books used no less than a dozen terms to "type" waterfalls according to their physical attributes.  It is also common to classify waterfalls according to the average volume of water in the fall using a ten point logarithmic scale.  However, we also found references where the term classification was used to discuss the physical appearance of the falls.  Although there are some standards present in the discussion of waterfalls, there is still a lot that is open-ended and left up to interpretation.

Finally, we decided that we would approach this in a slightly different fashion.  We will provide an ample number of pictures of the falls in this website and we will leave the typing and classification up to the viewer.  Rather than try and figure it out, we will just sit back and enjoy what Mother Nature has given us.

What is Northern New York?

To anyone not living in New York State and to anyone who lives in New York City or Long Island, New York is pretty much divided into two regions, downstate and upstate.  Downstate is New York City and Long Island, and perhaps a part of Westchester County, if you stretch it.  Upstate is everything else.  To those of us in New York State proper, there are sub-regions within the state.  We recognize Western New York, the Finger Lakes, Central New York, the Leatherstocking Region, the Catskills, the Hudson Valley, the Capital Region and Northern New York.  There may be other regions as well, but for the purpose of this website, Northern New York is that portion of the state bordered by Lake Ontario on the west, the St. Lawrence River and the border with Canada on the north and Lake Champlain and the Vermont border to the east.  We consider our southern border, from west to east, to be the combined waterways of the Oswego River, the Oneida River, Oneida Lake, the Erie Canal and the Mohawk River.

The majority of this region contains the Adirondack State Park region, which contains all or part of eight counties: Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, St. Lawrence and Warren.  Jefferson County is obviously in Northern New York and we are also including Washington, Saratoga and Fulton Counties, and the northern parts of Oswego, Oneida, Herkimer, Montgomery and Schenectady Counties.  There might be an argument that some of these counties fall in Central New York or the Capital Region, but for the most part, the waterways in these counties flow into the eastern end of Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River, Lake Champlain, the Mohawk or Hudson Rivers.  For the most part, these waterways trace their source to the Adirondacks or its foothills.

There are thirteen cities within our region.  In only one case, the waterfall is completely included within city limits.  Black River Falls is in Watertown.  Actually, there are a number of power dams within these city limits.  Some of these used to be waterfalls but we are still trying to get specifics on this.  We are between reasonably certain and positive that there are no waterfalls within the limits of ten of the cities:  Fulton, Gloversville, Johnstown, Mechanicville, Ogdensburg, Oswego, Plattsburgh, Rome, Saratoga Springs and Utica.  Actually most of the city of Utica is south of the Mohawk River. The remaining two cities are subject to interpretation.  Glens Falls at one point was a very impressive waterfall but is now a power dam.  It is on the border of Glens Falls (the city) and South Glens Falls (the village) and isn't entirely within city limits.  We are still trying to get specifics on Little Falls.  Considering the name, it was at one point a waterfall but it is our understanding that it is now a dam.  Based on maps, this waterfall is entirely within the city limits.

Our thanks to Scott Ensminger of falzguy.com for the map of New York State depicting our region.