Lower Carpenter Falls

Skaneateles Lake, New York, USA

About Lower Carpenter Falls


Hiking Distance: 1 mile round trip; scramble
Suggested Time: 1 hour

Date first visited: 2007-06-15
Date last visited: 2007-06-15

Waterfall Latitude: 42.81514
Waterfall Longitude: -76.34021

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Lower Carpenter Falls is actually an unofficial moniker that I’m giving for this pretty cascade.

Technically there are a handful of inaccessible waterfalls downstream of Carpenter Falls that you can hear but can’t see.

Carpenter_Falls_047_06152007 - Lower Carpenter Falls
Lower Carpenter Falls

This just happened to be one that I was able to reach and see.

Accessing the Lower Carpenter Falls

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to access this falls or not.

That’s because after hiking on a longer 0.5-mile trail (one-way) following the rim of the forested gorge downstream from the car park, I was confronted with warning signs telling me not to go any further.

The problem with that was if this was the only course to take, then the waterfalls within the gorge along this trail can only be heard and not seen!

Anyways, it looked like the trail used to continue to the bottom, but it was very steep and apparently landslides over the years made this path relatively unsafe.

That said, I’ve seen more doable scrambles that were worse than this that have been sanctioned.

Carpenter_Falls_048_06152007 - Another look at the Lower Carpenter Falls
Another look at the Lower Carpenter Falls

Go figure.

Needless to say, I did the steep scramble to the bottom then worked my way upstream to the cascade you see here.

Angel Falls

Dean Goss at the World Waterfall Database and the Northeast Waterfalls Survey informed me that this waterfall is more locally known as Angel Falls.

He then went on to say that it’s “a degree or two short of the one in Venezuela.”

Authorities

Lower Carpenter Falls resides in the Carpenter Falls Unique Area near Syracuse in Cayuga County, New York. It is administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Carpenter_Falls_035_06152007 - Approaching the Lower Carpenter Falls
Carpenter_Falls_041_06152007 - More direct look at the Lower Carpenter Falls
Carpenter_Falls_045_06152007 - That's me checking out the Lower Carpenter Falls
Carpenter_Falls_046_06152007 - Contextual view of the Lower Carpenter Falls


This waterfall shares the same trailhead as that of Upper Carpenter Falls. So see that page for driving directions.

For some geographical context, Syracuse was 56 miles (over an hour drive) north of Ithaca, 153 miles (2.5 hours drive) east of Buffalo, and 247 miles (4.5 hours drive) northwest of New York City.

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Tagged with: skaneateles, cayuga, new york, finger lakes, western new york, waterfall, ithaca, syracuse, angel falls, upstate, bahar



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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
Read More About Johnny | A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls.