Clarendon Falls - Waterfall Photos, Maps, Information

Clarendon Falls

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Location: Hamlet of Clarendon; Town of Clarendon; Orleans County; New York
Maps: Google Map, Bing Maps (Bird's-eye view); Multi -map (topo)
GPS/Locations: Falls: N 43.191 / W 78.065
Directions: Take Rt 104 to Rt 237 (Morganville Rd) south for three miles through Holley. Continue on 237 (now Holley Byron Rd) south another three miles to the Village of Clarendon. Just past the intersection with 31A will be a small park to the west.
Or use Google Directions.

Information
Number of falls: 1
Size/Types: A 25 ft cascade; lit by a single lamp at night.
Best time to visit: Spring or after heavy rain.
Flow: Low, often just a trickle in summer.
Waterway: A tributary to Sandy Creek, which travels north to join the West Branch in Murray, NY.
Time: Visible from the parking lot or a quick walk across the lawn to the base of the falls.

Accessibility
Seasons/Hours: The village park is open daily from 6am until 10pm; year-round.
Parking: Parking in the small turnaround off of Holley-Byron Road in front of the park. Space for about 5 cars.
Admission: Free
Handicap accessibility: View it from the parking area, otherwise it's a 50 yard walk across a grass lawn.
Pets: Allowed on leash.
Accommodations: Open pavilion, bench, port-a-potty.

Description
It took us several trips to Clarendon in order to catch this falls with an amount of flow that would show up well on camera. Our best advice is to get there shortly after (or during) a long period of heavy rain or during the spring thaw. With a decent amount of flow the falls is a nice one, with a soothing sound and picturesque view, set against the wooded hillside in a small community park in the village of Carendon. In low flow, it is a mossy, muddy mess - not worth the 40 minute trek east from Rochester.

The park, often used for small get-togethers, neighborhood games of catch, and of course checking out the falls, is mostly mowed grass with a small bridge crossing the creek and leading into a wooded area along the cliff. You can't view the falls from this area, but it is worth checking out to see the foundation of an old mill that once tapped the power of the falls.

In this seemingly flat town, the rock escarpment that Clarendon Falls tumbles down, seems a bit out of place. It's actually a three-mile long escarpment, of which this falls is on the northern end. The creek passes by a private residence atop the cliff and then cascades about twenty-five feet down mossy limestone. At the bottom, the creek is shallow (with no pool), rocky, and quickly turns toward the south. There is a wooden pole that carries a spotlight directed at the falls, but we have yet to see the falls lit up at night.

Most of the year, the falls is a small trickle. With the amount of mud and moss covering the creek bed, it can be an ugly sight in low flow. It is best to visit in early spring or after heavy rain.

Trails
Difficulty: Easy.
Markings: None.
It's just a short walk across the lawn to the falls. You can park yourself on the bench to relax, or trek across the stones in the creek to get to the base of the falls. "No Trespassing" signs signify that the land to the right of the park and falls is off-limits. There is a private residence above the falls. Follow the creek downstream to get to a small bridge that takes you back into the wooded area.

History
The town has it roots in the story of a lost horse. In 1810, Eldridge Farwell tracked a lost horse south from Ridge Road and came upon Clarendon Falls. Realizing the potential of the falls for power generation, he relocated there the following year and soon built a cabin, saw and grist mills; essentially founding Farwell's Mills, NY. When Orleans County was formed in the 1820's, the Farwells renamed the settlement to Clarendon after their home town in Vermont.
Source: Orleans County Historical Association

Do not miss
The town of Clarendon has five pioneer cemeteries: Maplewood (just south of the main hamlet) on NY Rt. 237; Robinson Burial Ground (about 2 miles south of the hamlet) also on NY Rt. 237; Glidden Cemetery on Glidden Road; Christian Graveyard (on Hibbard Road—the first official cemetery in town), and Cook Cemetery on Munger Road. Today, the area’s main cemeteries are also located in Clarendon—Hillside Cemetery and St. Mary’s Cemetery—adjacent to each other at the northern boundary with the town of Murray. Source: Orleans County Historical Association

Nearby Holley Falls is a man-made waterfall set in beautiful red Medina Sandstone. A waste-water drainage outlet for the Erie Canal; the falls dumps into Sandy Creek and is only a few minutes north of Clarendon.

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