Take a Hike By 12 Scenic Waterfalls & Swim Beneath One Few Hours From CNY

A few hours from Utica is a place where you can hike past 12 scenic waterfalls and swim beneath one in a stream-fed pool.

Robert H. Treman State Park is an area of wild beauty in Ithaca, New York. The rugged gorge called Enfield Glen is the park's scenic highlight. Nine miles of winding trails follow the gorge past 12 waterfalls, including the 115-foot Lucifer Falls, to where visitors can see a mile-and-a-half down the wooded gorge as it winds its way to the lower park.

Waterfall Swimming

Swimming in the stream-fed pool beneath a waterfall is open from 11 AM to 7 PM during summer months. Visitors are asked to visit the pool for a quick dip and then head to the picnic area, campsite, or hiking trail, so others might also enjoy the swimming hole.

Robert H. Treman State Park Highlights

The gorges, waterfalls, and pools at Robert H. Treman State Park and in the surrounding Finger Lakes Region were formed by glaciers 10,000 years ago. As the glaciers melted, Enfield Creek began to flow, clearing rocks and debris from a gorge that existed even earlier. Just below Lucifer Falls, you can see where the stream in the upper park changed its course a little bit southwards, eroding the rocks to create a "new" narrow gorge.

Don't miss the view from the cliff staircase; in the early summer look for the orange-yellow flowers of the Tulip Poplar trees, and in the fall enjoy the brilliant fall colors and the deep green pockets of hemlocks.

Old Mill

Explore the Old Mill, built in 1839 that was the center of the former hamlet of Enfield Falls. Also, don't miss the Civilian Conservation Corps display on the 1st floor about the men that lived and worked in the park during the Depression Era.

Learn more at NY.parks.gov.