Taughannock Falls State Park

Taughannock Falls State Park

Taughannock Falls in Autumn 2003

Location of Taughannock Falls State Park within New York State

Type State park
Location 1740 Taughannock Blvd.
Trumansburg, New York[1]
Nearest city Trumansburg, New York
Coordinates 42°32′42″N 76°36′22″W / 42.545°N 76.606°W / 42.545; -76.606Coordinates: 42°32′42″N 76°36′22″W / 42.545°N 76.606°W / 42.545; -76.606
Area 750 acres (3.0 km2)[2]
Created 1925 (1925)[3]
Operated by New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Visitors 434,090 (in 2014)[4]
Open All year
Website Taughannock Falls State Park

Taughannock Falls State Park (/təˈɡænək/) is a 750-acre (3.0 km2) state park[2] located in the Town of Ulysses in Tompkins County, New York in the United States. The park is northwest of Ithaca near Trumansburg.

The park's namesake, Taughannock Falls, is a 215-foot (66 m) plunge waterfall that is the highest single-drop waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains.[5]

History

The region surrounding Taughannock Falls State Park was home to the Cayuga people prior to their abandonment of the area following the American Revolutionary War. Taughannock Creek was used as a source of power for mills and a gun factory in the early 19th century. In the 1870s, steamboats, railroads and Victorian hotels were built in the region to serve tourists who traveled to view the falls.[5][6]

Taughannock Falls State Park was created in 1925 on a 64-acre (0.26 km2) parcel of land acquired by New York State.[6] Roads and trails at the park were improved by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s.[7] The park has since grown to its current size of 750 acres (3.0 km2).[2]

Origin of name

Several possible sources have been proposed for the name Taughannock, all of which describe Native American origins. One translation suggests that the name is derived from a combination of Iroquois and Algonquin terms[8] meaning "great fall in the woods".[9] An alternate theory suggests that the name may refer to a Lenni Lenape (Delaware) chief named Taughannock who died near the falls during a battle.[9]

Park description

Taughannock Falls State Park offers hiking and nature trails, camping and picnicking. The park includes a stretch of Cayuga Lake's shoreline, where swimming, fishing, and a boat launch are available. In the winter, the park offers facilities and trails for ice-skating, sledding, and cross-country skiing.[1]

In addition to the 215-foot (66 m) Taughannock Falls, two additional waterfalls are located along Taughannock Creek within the park. A 20-foot (6.1 m) cascade, known as Little or Lower Falls, is located downstream of Taughannock Falls, while the 100-foot (30 m) Upper Falls are found upstream of Taughannock Falls.[10]

Views of Taughannock Falls are available from two trails. They may be viewed from below by walking along the 1-mile-long (1.6 km) there-and-back-again Gorge Trail, which also passes by Lower Falls, or they may be seen from above by following the 2.6-mile (4.2 km) Rim Trail, a loop hike which also offers views of Upper Falls.[10]

The Gorge Trail is open all year long, unlike the Rim Trail which is closed to the public in winter. Swimming under the waterfall is hazardous and strictly forbidden.

Taughannock Falls

Taughannock Falls

Taughannock Falls in spring 2012
Location Tompkins County, New York[11]
Type Plunge
Total height 215 ft (66 m)
Number of drops 1
Watercourse Taughannock Creek

Taughannock Falls' main cataract is a 215-foot drop (66 m),[12] making it 33 feet (10 m) taller than Niagara Falls. It is the tallest single-drop waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains.[5][13] The waterfall is located along Taughannock Creek, which flows through a long gorge with cliffs up to 400 feet (120 m) high.

Geology and natural history

The waterfall and gorge comprise an example of a hanging valley, formed where Taughannock Creek's stream-carved valley meets the deeper glacially carved valley that contains Cayuga Lake. The gorge has continued to retreat westward from Cayuga Lake as easily eroded shale near the fall's base is worn away by the stream, which supports erosion-resistant siltstone and sandstone found in the upper portions of the gorge. Annual freeze and thaw cycles also act upon small faults in the rock, causing large sections to occasionally break away, further expanding the gorge.[14]

The gorge supports a "Shale Cliff and Talus" community of plants, including three regionally rare species classified as threatened in New York State: Butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris), birds-eye primrose (Primula mistassinica) and yellow mountain saxifrage (Saxifraga aizoides).[15]

In The Midnight Sun, episode 75 of the American television series The Twilight Zone, Taughannock Falls is implied to be the subject of Norma's oil painting.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Taughannock Falls State Park". NYS Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Section O: Environmental Conservation and Recreation, Table O-9". 2014 New York State Statistical Yearbook (PDF). The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. 2014. p. 674. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Taughannock Falls State Park: A user's guide". Mother Nature Network. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  4. ↑ "State Park Annual Attendance Figures by Facility: Beginning 2003". Data.ny.gov. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 "Taughannock Falls". National Geographic Guide to State Parks of the United States (4th ed.). Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. 2012. pp. 54–55. ISBN 1426208898. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  6. 1 2 Off the Beaten Path: A Travel Guide to More Than 1,000 Scenic and Interesting Places Still Uncrowded and Inviting. Pleasantville, N.Y.: Reader's Digest Association. 2003. p. 242. ISBN 0762104244. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  7. ↑ Stradling, David (2010). The Nature of New York: An Environmental History of the Empire State. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. p. 167. ISBN 0801445108. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  8. ↑ Beauchamp, William Martin (1907). Aboriginal Place Names of New York (New York State Museum Bulletin, Volume 108). New York State Education Department. p. 232. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  9. 1 2 "What's in a Name? – Taughannock Falls". Nature Times. NYS Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  10. 1 2 Minetor, Randi; Minetor, Nic (2014). Hiking Waterfalls in New York: A Guide to the State's Best Waterfall Hikes. Guildford, Conn.: FalconGuides. pp. 87–89. ISBN 0762787503. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Taughannock Falls". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Taughannock Falls". World Waterfall Database. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  13. ↑ O'Brian, Mike (May 24, 2015). "The Natural Wonder of Taughannock Falls State Park". Time Warner Cable News - Southern Tier. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Taughannock Falls". New York State Geological Survey. New York State Museum. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  15. ↑ Evans, D.J.; VanLuven, David E. (January 2007). "Biodiversity in New York's State Park System - Summary of Findings" (PDF). NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. p. 23. Retrieved October 2, 2015.

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