Buttermilk Falls State Park is named after the foaming cascade formed by Buttermilk Creek as it flows down the steep valley side toward Cayuga Lake. Unfortunately, I visited the park after it rained so the falls’ water wasn’t foamy white, but murky brown.
Still, it’s a beautiful sight and the park is worth a visit when in Ithaca. It’s especially popular among families as it has hiking trails, picnic areas and playing fields on the upper park and a campground, pools, and playing fields at the lower park.
Our (or rather, my) discovery of the falls itself has a funny backstory. You see, after our class in Cornell, my friend and I decided to go on a walk to the falls because a staff at the Country Inn & Suites mentioned that it’s nearby. It wasn’t.
This is me making light of our (mis)adventure. By then, we had been walking aimlessly for about 20 minutes.
We were deliberating whether to turn back when we saw a sign that said the park is just round the corner, so we decided to continue on…
Aaand, finally, we reached the park.
The above signage though, is misleading in a way because the falls wasn’t on this part of the park, but on the other side as I would find out the following day.
Still, my friend and I made the most of our visit by taking photos of the park itself.
It was already late that we couldn’t see any staff to assist us. We even thought this was Buttermilk Falls.
We didn’t linger as it was already early evening and we didn’t want to risk getting lost, especially in a foreign country and at the woods where anything can happen.
The following day, my friend had a class and since I was free, I decided to come back to the park. I told my friend I’d find the falls so our trip wasn’t for naught.
This is the signage across the state park signage that we saw the day before. If only we headed here, we would have seen the falls.
My views as I followed the sound of the rushing water.
I wasn’t disappointed. Who would, with views like this.
I bet this place looks lovelier come fall, with colorful trees framing this beautiful landscape.
More photos of the bridge, which is easily one of the park’s best features.
Right after the bridge is the falls itself and this is my first view of it.
Beautiful, despite the murky color.
I walked around and just loved the views and the sound of the rushing water was especially soothing.
Afterwards, I decided to go on a hike and see more of the park. Here are some of my views:
I found some interesting flora too and Google helped me identify the Common Yarrow (topmost, center) and the Orange Day Lily (middle, right).
There were interesting plants too with”fruits.”
Google identified the first photo on the left, topmost portion as Berry Forest. I wasn’t familiar with the others so I’ll leave them unidentified.
When I headed back to the falls I saw earlier, I decided to use the trail by the falls, which afforded me better views like these.
Aren’t the rock formations lovely? Here’s a closer shot.
I wasn’t wrong in choosing this particular trail because I got to see another falls (I found out while working on this post that there are 9 falls in this park).
The main photo from this post was taken on the same spot.
And these are my views as I neared the park’s entrance.
After crossing the bridge from the last photo from above, I reached the same area where my friend I went to the day before and this signage was what held us back from exploring the park.
Seriously, we thought there were bears roaming the park so we were very cautious, though I later found out that a bear was seen here only once, thus the name.
Here’s my view as I took Bear Trail.
Farther was this view, but I did not dare venture beyond this point.
After my hike or rather, leisurely walk, this is me, muddy shoes and all.
As usual, I’ll end this post with one of my favorite photos from this set. I loved this photo because it’s like a vision from a faraway time.
Buttermilk Falls is located in 112 E. Buttermilk Falls Road, Ithaca, New York. Contact them via +607 273-5761 or visit the park’s official website.
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