Judd's Falls

A place to discuss waterfalls. Including the parks that house them and the hikes to get to them.

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L_G_D
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Judd's Falls is located in Otsego County, just north of the town of Cherry Valley. If you look at the 1943 USGS quad for Sprout Brook, you'll see that it has the old route 20 layout, not where the road is now. Route 20 currently runs almost on top of the falls. I don't know if there's a newer version of that quad or not.

Anyway, the last time I was there, which was ten years ago, the posted signs only mentioned no hunting, fishing or camping, that I recall, nothing about just going in for a visit. The place has obviously been used for a long time by the locals as a party spot. There was a large concrete slab just off the road at the top of the falls where you could park several cars. This may have all changed since then.

So, now for the pics, a couple of summer shots from the bottom:
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Winter:
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Looking out from behind the large ice wall:
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From the view point above the falls:
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Last edited by L_G_D on Mon Oct 29, 2012 2:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Matt
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Looks great!
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Matt
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Interesting article about Cherry Valley and the falls... and the Cherry Valley Massacre
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hobkyl
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Wow nice falls!
“There’s an inconsequentiality to our lives that living in the wilderness shows up. Mountain are real, they set their limits, they set ours. They expose us, make us vulnerable and strong at the same time. “
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L_G_D
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Matt wrote:Interesting article about Cherry Valley and the falls... and the Cherry Valley Massacre
Interesting article, he doesn't mention whether the land is posted or not, and didn't seem to care. One other thing that just came to mind is that it's a great place to study fossils, if that sort of thing interests you. I've seen trilobites, various brachipods, corals, etc in the rocks there.
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Got to this falls this week. The parking lot is right above the falls. Save yourself a TON of time and take the path turn off, on the left, about 300 yards in, that heads directly down to falls. It's confusing cause it looks like a stream, but it is the way to go. I lost a good 45 minutes following the path down, but from/away the falls. These falls are huge. The 16-35M lense does not give you that sense. Wish there had been more water. One of the most unstable glens i have climbed. Maybe there has been a recent shifting.

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IMG_9570 by ApproachingLight, on Flickr

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IMG_9577 by ApproachingLight, on Flickr

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IMG_9590 by ApproachingLight, on Flickr
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Last year I rode out to Judd's Falls. I didn't see any posted signs near the 'parking area' just off of Route 20, nor any on the trail to the base of the falls. I picked Judd's Falls pretty much as the turn around point, so it didn't leave me time to walk to the base on my first visit. I ask you to forgive the quality of the pictures, as I carry a Kodak C1450 point-and-shoot while riding. My bike at mile 50 with the falls in the far background...
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Last edited by Jeduthan on Thu Oct 18, 2012 9:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Taken from the precipice near the parking lot. It gives a little sense of how big the gorge and the falls are. I find it amazing such a small water flow could carve so large a chasm. I wonder it some other factors were at work here.
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