WaterfallNear Me

Rocky Falls

Tompkins County, New York

Your visit at a glance

Waterfall height
Not recorded
Location
Tompkins County, New York
Access status
Campus gorge view from a pedestrian bridge
The walk
Short walk from the lot to the suspension bridge
Ground & access
Easy walk to a high pedestrian bridge. The side path into the gorge has steps. Stay on trails; swimming below the falls is prohibited.
Waterfall Hero: Fall Creek Gorge Waterfalls (Cornell)

Rocky Falls is the widest falls in Fall Creek Gorge on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, beside the university's small hydroelectric plant. Waterfall Hero gives its height as 55 feet; NYFalls gives just under 30 feet. From the lot off Fall Creek Drive, walk onto the pedestrian suspension bridge; Rocky Falls is upstream, poking out past the power plant, with Horseshoe Falls right below. NYFalls also describes a side path off the red-blazed south rim trail that leads down into the gorge for a closer view; it closes in winter and when flooding is likely. Return the same way.

Plan your visit

Small public lot off Fall Creek Drive at Cornell University, onto the Fall Creek pedestrian suspension bridge, looking upstream

Waterfall Hero starts the walk at the parking area beside the bridge. Its 0.6-mile figure covers a walk to three waterfalls, not this view alone.

Easy walk to a high pedestrian bridge. The side path into the gorge has steps. Stay on trails; swimming below the falls is prohibited.

Where to start

Small Cornell Botanic Gardens lot off Fall Creek Drive near the suspension bridge, one of a few campus lots designated for public use. Other campus lots are not all open to the public. From Stewart Avenue just north of the Fall Creek bridge, turn right on Fall Creek Drive and bear right into the lot in 0.2 miles.

Timing & water

Cornell says the gorge trails are open year round but only a small part is maintained in winter; obey closure signs. The gorges are especially dangerous after large storms.

Before you go

NYFalls lists admission as free.

Visitor information
Visit sources

More waterfalls nearby

Within 40 straight-line miles. Road and trail distances will differ.

Explore New York

Waterfall location

Tompkins County, New York.

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