Judd Falls (Ithaca)

Location: On the southern edge of Cornell’s campus; city of Ithaca; town of Ithaca; Tompkins County; Finger Lakes Region; New York.

Maps: Google Map; Topographic; Interactive map.

GPS: Judd Falls: (N 42.44280 / W 76.46965)
View from Pine Tree Rd: (N 42.44282 / W 76.46980)
View from Dryden Rd: (N 42.44368 / W 76.46994)
Parking: (N 42.44098 / W 76.47014)

Directions: The closest parking is at the E Ithaca Recreation Way on Maple Rd. It’s best to approach from the west.
Use Google Maps to get you there.

Parking: Roadside parking along Maple Ave. It’s on the shoulder of the eastbound lane. There’s room for about 4 cars. There is a 2 hour limit to parking here.

If this is full, you can risk parking in a private or university lot nearby, but you may get towed.

The next official trail parking is located west off of Hoy Rd at Schoellkopf Field. Or to the east off of Game Farm Rd, between where it crosses Cascadilla Creek and intersects with the E Ithaca Recreation Way (this trail heads a mile west to the falls).

Number of falls: 1 waterfall and a few nearby ledges.

Size/Types: A cascade of about 10 to 12 ft high.

Best time to visit: Year-round.

Flow: Moderate.

Waterway: Cascadilla Creek, a tributary to the Cayuga Inlet, which empties into Cayuga Lake.

Time: You can drive by the falls and catch a quick glimpse, but a better view can be had by walking to it from the E Ithaca Recreation Way. The parking for this is a 5 minute walk from here. If you want to enjoy more of the Recreation Way, set aside an hour and start at the trailhead on Game Farm Rd.

Seasons/Hours: Open all day, all year.

Admission: Free.

Handicap Accessibility: While there is no sidewalk, there is room on the shoulders of Pine Tree Rd and Dryden Rd. Be careful on Dryden as its a pretty busy area.

Pets: No rules are posted, but pets need to be on a leash in public.

Accommodations: The E Ithaca Recreation Way is a 2.5 mile long urban trail. If you need to eat or poop, the closest plaza is south of here at the corner of Pine Tree Rd and Mitchell St.

As the Erie Canal was completed, bypassing Ithaca and threatening to leave the city out of the new shipping economy, 1832 saw the onset of rail transportation between Ithaca and Owego, the second rail line in the state at the time. The new line, which had to deal with the hilly terrain, had a lot of horsepower. Literally. The cars were pulled by horses. It wasn’t until 1837 that a steam engine was added and the old route was replaced with one suitable for the new power and named the Cayuga & Susquehanna line. This route was eventually abandoned and became South Hill Recreation Way.

With rail lines serving the west and south of the city, Ezra Cornell sought a line connecting his university on the east hill. The Utica, Ithaca & Elmira Railroad served that area beginning in 1872, with a terminus at the campus, financed by Cornell himself. The engines running up east hill were fitted with special cog wheels to enable them to climb such a steep gradient. That Cornell station was abandoned in 1876 when the terminus was moved to Elmira.  The line was completely abandoned in the 1930s and parts of it have now become the East Ithaca Recreation Way.

Judd Falls is named after Reuben Judd (d. 1856) who owned a woolen mill on the falls from 1832 to 1858. The creek also powered a lead pipe and chair factory.