| County: |
Lewis |
| Town: |
Martinsburg |
| USGS
Map: |
Page |
| Waterway: |
Whetstone
Creek |
| Latitude: |
N
43.69295o |
| Longitude: |
W
75.49970o
|
| Drop: |
50' |
|
The Whetstone Gulf State Park is home to the Whetstone Creek
Falls. On our first trip there, a well-meaning attendant at
the front gate told us that it was possible to hike up the creek
trail and get to the falls. There is a trail at the end of
the road through the park
where you can make the 2.5 mile walk to the waterfalls. Be
advised that the trail is no longer maintained. The footpath
is still fairly recognizable for some of the journey, but the
bridges no longer exist. Make sure you are wearing your
water shoes! You are on land about a quarter mile when you
will come to the first place you will have to cross the creek.
Several crossings later, you will come to a point where your best
bet is to use the creek as your trail, at least for portions of
the walk. We didn't allow ourselves ample time on this first
visit. Due to another commitment we decided to abort the
mission after about an hour at which time we had walked a little over a mile up the creek.
On our second visit, we were determined to make it all the way in.
However, a little over 2 miles in, we encountered a section where
there were no trails. In fact, there were no shores ... the
creek narrowed through the gorge walls. The current and
depth prevented a couple of middle-aged people carrying a camera
and GPS unit from proceeding. Maybe it would have been
possible to wade through this but it was August when we were there
and we couldn't get through this section.
We were seriously looking at Plan B, which was hiring a friend
with an airplane when we decided to call the park office.
This resulted in the knowledge that there is a trail around the
top of the gorge. Plan C evolved! We were advised to
park in the lot by the picnic area where we would access this
trail.
Before we were able to make this trip, a casual comment made to
a good friend resulted in Plan D! This friend grew up in
Lewis County, was raised by parents who loved to hike and actually
spent several years as a forester with the NYS DEC. He
became our guide for about a dozen falls in the county, including
this one.
This route avoids the day use fee for the park ($7 in 2010) and
results in a much shorter hike. The trade-off is that you
probably want to be in a 4-wheel drive vehicle of some type which
ample clearance. The roads you take to get to the trailhead
are not paved. During the summer, the ride probably wouldn't
be bad but we were there in early May. Our truck looked like
we had been mud bogging by the time we were through. There
are actually two routes to get in. The first is to drive
west from the hamlet of Martinsburg on the Cemetery Road.
Take a left at the Alger Road. As you cross the West Road,
this becomes the Corrigan Hill Road. Follow this until you
cross a bridge over the Whetstone Creek. Just past the
bridge there is a parking area. You reach this point from
the other direction by taking NYS Highway 26 to Houseville.
Go west on the Houseville Gulf Road (not the Houseville
Road). The first right will be the Corrigan Hill Road.
At the parking area, take the north ridge trail if you want to
walk right up to the falls. The south ridge trail allows you
a view across the gorge. Both trails are well maintained and
about a 15 minute walk of moderate difficulty.
Although this is called the Whetstone Creek Falls, it is
actually formed by a feeder of it. You will see a number of
smaller waterfalls down in the gorge above these falls as you walk
in. We saw at least six which would have qualified as falls
in their own right had they been located elsewhere! Be aware
that both of these trails are easily passable, but the foliage is
quite heavy, especially during the summer. Your views may be
obscured and photo opportunities, especially of the smaller falls,
is limited.
The Whetstone Creek flows into the Black River, which flows to
Lake Ontario in Dexter, New York.
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