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 or the Greater Niagara Region, the Finger Lakes, Central New York, the Leatherstocking Region, the Catskills, the Hudson Valley, the Capital Region and Northern New York, also known as the North Country.  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.  Where the Mohawk meets the Hudson north of Albany, we go upstream to where, just above the Hoosic River, the Washington/Rensselaer County line goes due east to the Vermont state line.  The New York State tourism community divides this area into the Adirondacks and the Thousand Islands-Seaway region.

The majority of this region contains the Adirondack State Park region, which contains all or part of eleven counties.  Essex and Hamilton Counties are entirely contained within the park's boundaries.  Also included are parts of Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence, Lewis, Herkimer, Fulton, Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties.  Jefferson County is obviously in Northern New York and we are also including the northern parts of Oswego, Oneida, 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.

To those who know the Adirondacks, whether they be residents, relocated natives or visitors to the region, this area is recognized as being as beautiful as any area  New York State, the U.S. or the world, for that matter, has to offer.  From it majestic high peaks, inland lakes, rivers and streams, to its many popular tourist destinations such as Lake Placid, Tupper Lake, Saranac Lake and Lake George, its natural beauty is unrivaled.  Outside of the Adirondacks, northern New York boasts the eastern shores of Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River Valley and Lake Champlain, some of the most gorgeous navigable waterways in the North American continent.

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

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.  Realistically, many people think of something like Niagara Falls or Bridal Veil Falls when they think "waterfall".  In reality, the concept of waterfall goes well beyond this.  Literally, a waterfall is "falling water".  How far and how fast is where the line is drawn.  When all of the definitions are considered, 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.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS), which is a part of the US Department of the Interior, is responsible for the official naming of geographic locations in our nation.  Things like towns, cities, mountains, rivers and waterfalls are listed on the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).  The GNIS is a database of all things officially named.  For our purposes, we will consider three categories of naming.

• Official ... a waterfall that is listed on the GNIS
• Common ... in the big picture, most waterfalls are not included in the GNIS database.  Many waterfalls that are not on this list do have a common name that is used, perhaps by those local to that area or perhaps on a wider base.
• Unnamed ... Many waterfalls do not have a name, either by official standards or common reference.  In these cases, we have taken the liberty to give them a name, usually based on the waterway they are on, to facilitate cataloging them.  We have observed that, over the past few years that this website has been in existence, waterfalls that we have given informal names have turned up on other websites with that name.  This is one way that common names develop!

Each waterfall page will show a directions side-bar on the top-left giving brief, but concise directions for getting to that waterfall.  Please understand that, in many cases, if you are approaching a location from a less traveled direction, there may be a shorter route than the one noted.  Our directions are usually based on the most commonly traveled approach.

Below the directions will be a data side-bar which includes several important pieces of information on the fall.  Specific details on that are in the next section.  Below that is a New York State map depicting a red star which shows the general location of the waterfall.

In the column at the right of these items is a narrative discussion of the specifics of the falls.  Below all of this will be an array of thumbnail photos.  Hovering on any of the photos will cause an enlargement to pop up on the right.

On each waterfall page, there is a two-column data side-bar containing many pertinent items of information, as follows:

We use a computer program that is a collection of topographical maps of New York State.  This program is based on the USGS quadrangles which were developed many years/decades ago.  We also use a modern hiking style GPS unit.  Based on several years of the use of these together, we have noted that we will frequently get discrepancies between the readings of where our waypoints are marked on the GPS unit and what the map might show.  For example, we have taken readings where we were literally in the water at the base of a waterfall, but when we spotted this point on the map, it was not on the waterway, but on land near it.  These discrepancies have never been huge so we do not feel that it is a significant issue.  We do, however, want to note that the coordinates listed on any of our pages are as close to accurate as possible but due to factors beyond our control, there may be a small margin of error.

Many waterfall websites and books use 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.  There are also references where the term classification was used to discuss the physical appearance of the falls.  We have been saying for years that there is no standard for classifying or typing waterfalls.  We will stick with that statement.  However, in recent years, and we don't know who to credit, several websites have adapted terms that are closing in on becoming standard.  There are still some variations but, because of these recent developements, we are in the process of introducing these new terms on this site.  Because of the sheer number of falls we have listed, this is going to take some time.  The following represents those terms we are adapting.

Plunge	The water drops vertically in a headlong dive, usually falling free of all or most of the underlying surface.
Block	Water which usually falls from the entire width of a stream in one primary drop while maintaining some contact with the underlying cliff.  It may contain additional drops incidental to the primary one.  This is considered the classical style of waterfall.  This will be broken down into Rectangular Block, where the width at the crest of the falls is obviously greater than its height, Square Block, where the width and height are relatively equal, or Ribbon Block, where the width is noticably less than the height.
Cascade	A waterfall containing multiple drops or a series of muliple drops.  This may also be sub-divided into Curtain Cascade, Square Cascade or Ribbon Cascade, as described above, of Step Cascade, which descends in a series of drops, resembling stair steps.
Slide	A relatively smooth descent, resembling a natural waterslide.
Segmented	Characterized by more than one drop on the same level usually created by small islands or protruding rock
Flume	A section of waterway where the channel narrows, usually between steep walls, causing the flow to increase.
Ledge	Similar to a Block, but a short drop of only a few feet, usually spanning the width of the stream.
Rapids	When the overall fall of the water level is noticeably less than the horizontal run of the section
Historical	A waterfall that no longer exists.  This is usually due to the establishment of a power dam at that location that has eliminated the falls but is not limited to that reason.

More often than not, a waterfall demonstrates more than one of the above properties.  In those cases, efforts are made to classify the section based on the most obvious attribute.  When that is not possible, it will be noted that the waterfall is a combination of more than one type.  There are also some locations where more than one waterfall is present.  In these cases, we have noted that there are "multiple" waterfalls.