Frankly, Taughannock Falls took my breath away the moment I saw the link sent over by the friend who let us stay in his cabin. Taughannock Falls State Park was on my MUST DO list for Ithaca.
I figured the Rugged Mountain Man could pick everything else we'd do, but I wanted to go to Taughannock Falls. It definitely didn’t disappoint us.
However, I expected only one set of waterfalls at Buttermilk Falls; my expectations were considerably lower for this state park.
I seriously underestimated this whole state park.
At the end of the day, the Rugged Mountain Man and I ended up liking Buttermilk Falls State Park better than Taughannock Falls, and that’s saying something considering the sheer grandeur of Taughannock Falls.
The natural wonders at Buttermilk Falls just kept wowing us, moment after moment, step after step.
Beautiful pools, stunning falls after set of stunning falls after set of stunning falls,
amazing geology (and you know how our Blossom2 loves rocks)…
This place is one that we hope to take the Blossoms to very soon.
The hikes again were all very short and ranked a 9.5 on my aesthetic 1-10 scale. I’d call them a 5.5 on the difficulty scale, as there were more steep stairs, but I know the girlies could’ve handled them.
We don’t usually hike with a time limit and when there’s more beauty to see, we usually have to shout out, “Stay where we can see/hear you!!!!!!!!” as they charge ahead.
With so much natural beauty so constantly near the trail, motivation would be high to just keep hiking. Once again, we strung together 3-4 trails to come up with approximately 4.5 miles of hiking.
(The Gorge trail is the main trail, with the most aesthetic "bang for your buck." It's the easiest to access and the most popular, by far. However, there's so much more to see than the Gorge trail has to offer. We did the Bear trail, Lake Treman trail and the Rim trail to complete our circuit of the gorge, waterfalls and Lake Treman.)
I do love seeing the Creator's handiwork from as many vantage points as possible.
Additionally, the falls clearly respond quickly to changes in weather and the water table, so it would be very interesting to see it during the spring high run-off season as well.
I like places that are always unique, so they can be visited again and again.
Gratitude doesn't begin to capture what's in my heart as I look at these snapshots of our time at Buttermilk Falls State Park.
I'm simply astounded by the beauty God's hand etched into the New York geography.
It turns my heart to the Creator afresh.
