| County: |
Hamilton |
| Town: |
Wells |
| USGS Map: |
Page Mountain |
| Waterway: |
Sacandaga River |
| Latitude: |
N 43.50075o
|
| Longitude: |
W 74.27979o
|
| Drop: |
40' |
|
Austin Falls is located on a stretch of NYS Routes 30 and 8
that run together from Speculator to just north of Wells.
There are three alternatives to get to these falls. Having
said that, however, we have only tested one of these routes.
The other two options were found in books or on-line.
3.0 miles east of where these Routes 30 and 8 come together in Speculator
you will come to the Old Route 30. Take this left. If
you are coming from the south, this intersection is about 6.5
miles from the Routes 30 and 8 intersection in Wells. This is a seasonal road that is not maintained during the
winter. It is paved, but don't read too much into
that. The pavement is cracked and heaved. Just about
the time you feel comfortable doing about 30 MPH, you'll come to a
bump where you wish you had been going 10! At 0.1 miles down
this road, you will cross a bridge. At 2.0 miles, there is a
second bridge, a one-lane relic. Past this, on your left,
there is a clearing that was being logged in September 2011. Just
after this, the river will be in view on the right and at the 2.7
mile point, you should park. Here is where you will find the
falls.
The other two options are from the other end of this
Old Route 30. From the main highway, you will pass a road
where an abandoned bridge is visible. Assuming you can walk over
the bridge, the falls are 0.8 miles down the road. We have
also read that if you drive 0.8 miles north on the main highway,
you can walk through the woods to the falls from this side of the
river. As we stated before, these two methods were not
tried.
Austin Falls is a multi-step drop that covers about 300 yards
of the river. It appears to be a continuous waterslide but
at the top are some boulders. The water pouring through here
gives the illusion of a plunge at that point due to the splashing
off the rocks.
The Sacandaga River flows through a number of lakes as it makes
its way to the Hudson River whose final destination is the
Atlantic Ocean.
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