The best waterfalls in Trumansburg

Moved to New York almost a year ago, and recently while stuck at home organising my autumn trip list, I stared at the Finger Lakes map for a long while — I'd always assumed the most impressive waterfalls were only at Niagara, turns out upstate New York is hiding several waterfalls with even more dramatic drops, all reachable by car, and without the crowds.

Cold fact first: Niagara really is grand, but purely on "height from the sky", it doesn't actually rank first in New York State. The one locals keep going back to is Taughannock Falls by Cayuga Lake, a 65 metre drop, the tallest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains, even taller than Niagara. Standing at the viewing platform in the base of the gorge looking up, the water pours down the entire canyon wall, the sound echoing between the rock walls, that feeling of "becoming small" hit me more than queuing up to see Niagara at the tourist site.

Why is it taller but not as famous? The reason is actually interesting: it's a "hanging valley waterfall" cut by a glacier — after the glacier retreated, the tributary valley was left hanging up high, and the water drops almost vertically straight down the rock face into the lake, so the height is stunning but the water volume isn't huge. Niagara wins on volume and width, but purely on "height", Taughannock is the underrated record holder.