She-Qua-Ga Falls

Montour Falls, New York, USA

About She-Qua-Ga Falls


Hiking Distance: almost roadside
Suggested Time:

Date first visited: 2007-06-17
Date last visited: 2007-06-17

Waterfall Latitude: 42.34457
Waterfall Longitude: -76.85129

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

She-Qua-Ga Falls (Shequaga Falls) is said to be the Native American name for the falls meaning “tumbling waters” though we have also seen it referred to as Montour Falls.

The waterfall was situated behind some charming colonial-style buildings and homes of the Montour Falls town near its main street.

She-Qua-Ga_Falls_004_06172007 - She-Qua-Ga Falls
She-Qua-Ga Falls

According to what we’ve seen in the literature, the falls is said to be about 156ft high.

We also noticed a bridge above the falls partially hidden amongst the foliage.

I believe this bridge was called the She-Qua-Ga Creek Bridge.

During our visit, we noticed a Louis XVIII of France sign at the start of the short path to the falls.

According to that sign, he apparently sketched this waterfall while he was in exhile prior to becoming the “citizen king” of France.

That sketch is now said to be in the Louvre Museum in Paris, which is quite cool considering an obscure waterfall like this can be seen by millions of people today in one of the greatest art galleries in the world!

She-Qua-Ga_Falls_002_jx_06172007 - Sign talking about the She-Qua-Ga Falls
Sign talking about the She-Qua-Ga Falls

So I guess this waterfall was another example of where history meets nature, which was the sense I got when exploring nature in the Eastern US (let alone this part of New York state).

We managed to see the falls flowing in mid-June, but I can totally see this waterfall go dry or trickle later in the Summer.

I’m betting that Spring would be the best time to see this falls.

Authorities

She-Qua-Ga Falls resides in the village of Montour Falls near Watkins Glen in Schuyler County, New York. It is administered by the local government of Montour Falls. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

She-Qua-Ga_Falls_002_jx_06172007 - Sign indicating Louis Philippe came here
She-Qua-Ga_Falls_004_jx_06172007 - The walk leading up to the falls with flowers blooming on the grass
She-Qua-Ga_Falls_002_06172007 - Closer look at flowers blooming on the grass
She-Qua-Ga_Falls_019_06172007 - Closeup of Julie right in front of the falls


From the downtown Ithaca area, we went south on Hwy 13 which then junctioned with Hwy 224 towards Odessa. Turning right onto Hwy 224, we then took it to the town of Montour Falls where it junctioned with the Hwy 14. We then made a left onto Hwy 14 and quickly thereafter, turned right onto Main St. And at the end of Main St, it intersects with Genesee St, where we turned left and saw the falls on our right between a pair of historical looking buildings.

For geographical context, Ithaca was about 156 miles (under 3 hours drive) east of Buffalo, 167 miles (3 hours drive) west of Albany, or 233 miles (4.5 hours drive) northwest of New York City.

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Tagged with: montour falls, schuyler, ithaca, finger lakes, western new york, new york, waterfall, seasonal, louis, france, upstate



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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.
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