| County: |
St.
Lawrence |
| Town: |
Rossie |
| USGS Map: |
Hammond |
| Waterway: |
Indian
River |
| Latitude: |
N 44o
22' 50.39" |
| Longitude: |
W 75o
39' 7.53" |
| Drop: |
~15' |
|
Rossie Falls is located in the tiny St. Lawrence County hamlet of
Rossie. Although Rossie is on the Indian River, because of
the way that the Oswegatchie River winds around, Rossie's location
is somewhat interesting. If you approach it from the east,
you actually have to go through a portion of Jefferson County to
get there. To get to Rossie you need to travel a number of
county roads. Since it is so close to the county line, the
directions to get there will sound more involved than the trip
will be! Because they are county roads, the numbers will
change when you cross the lines.
From the south:
take NYS Route 11 north from Watertown. Just north of the
village of Antwerp, your first left is Jefferson County Route
24. Take it to the end where it comes to a
"T". Take a left and you are on Jefferson County
Route 25. Shortly, you will cross into St. Lawrence County
where the route number changes to SLC Route 10. Almost
immediately however, SLC Route 3 will be on your left. This
will take you to the hamlet of Rossie.
From the north:
just south of the NYS Route 11 bridge in Gouverneur, take
Johnstown Street, which becomes SLC Route 12. This will
cross into Jefferson County where the highway becomes JC Route 25
and then back into St. Lawrence County where it becomes SLC Route
10. Almost immediately however, SLC Route 3 will be on your
left. This will take you to the hamlet of Rossie.
From the west:
just south of the village of Hammond on NYS Route 37, you will
come to SLC Route 3. This will take you to the hamlet of
Rossie.
Once you are in the hamlet of Rossie, there will be a road with
a bridge over the Indian River. You can't miss it because
the end of the bridge is literally at the intersection.
Cross the bridge and the Mill Road will be on your right.
There is a parking area at the edge of the river. This
waterfalls is technically unnamed but is commonly known locally as
Rossie Falls. It drops in two steps, the upper is a small
plunge around a couple of good-sized boulders in the river,
whereas the second drop is more of a rapids-like slide.
Like many falls locations, there once was a mill of some kind
here. There are remains on both sides of the river of stone
structures that are now roof-less and falling in. What is
most interesting about this location is that it is the site of an
annual natural event that is right up there with the swallows at
Capistrano. In the first week of April every year, the
walleye "run" in Rossie. Thousands of walleye
return to just below the falls to spawn. If you go during
the day, you can see the fish in the water, but the best time for
viewing this is after dark with a fairly strong flashlight.
When you shine the light in the water, the eyes of the walleye
will glitter like stars. At most times of the year,
you will probably be along when you visit here. Just after
dark during the walleye run, expect several other vehicles to be
there, including one or two NYS DEC officers. Their presence
is to assure that unscrupulous types don't try to net the walleye.
The Indian River continues its flow downstream through Black
Lake. Then it joins the Oswegatchie River which flows to the
St. Lawrence River in Ogdensburg.
|
