Ludlowville Falls, NY

From the park overlook, you get a wide view of Ludlowville Falls. In the shade to the left (out of the picture) there is a “cave” eroded into the shale and roofed by the Tully formation caprock. (ref. # D060797) © Dave Spier

Ludlowville Falls is on Salmon Creek in the Town of Lansing on the east side of Cayuga Lake in New York’s Finger Lakes region. The height of the falls is listed variously as 35′ to 45′ so we’ll just round it to 40 feet and be done with it. A public park provides easy access to an overlook. For the more adventurous, including fossil hunters, a trail descends to the lower creek bed, or you can park downstream at a fishermen’s access and walk up the creek. (Note: We haven’t taken the time to explore either of these options yet.)

Falling water reflects sunlight to create a rainbow. The rock behind the rainbow is Hamilton-group shale deposited in a shallow inland sea during the middle Devonian period. (ref. # D060922) © Dave Spier

The falls is capped by massive layers of Tully limestone deposited in a shallow inland sea during the Devonian period. The soft, underlying Hamilton-group shale is easily eroded and allows blocks of the limestone to break along joint planes and fall into Salmon Creek. Under the south edge of the falls, shale erosion continues to create a large “cave” roofed by the Tully. A very slight strata dip to the northeast results in water flowing over the straight edge of the falls only during spring runoff or following heavy rain storms.

A small, hidden flume creates this “rooster tail” plume. Can you find it in the opening photo? (ref. # D060919) © Dave Spier

The nearly-flat sedimentary strata across the Finger Lakes region has mainly a slight southerly dip. Combine this with the gradual, northward descent of the land to the Lake Ontario plain and you get a low escarpment where the Tully limestone outcrops on the surface. Unfortunately, Ice Age glaciers essentially obliterated much the Tully escarpment, so it doesn’t have the prominence of the Lockport dolostone to the west (in the Niagara region) or the Onondaga escarpment to the east (around Syracuse and beyond).

This view locates the “rooster tail” below the massive Tully limestone caprock. (ref. # D060795) © Dave Spier

Tully limestone also creates the lower falls at the mouth of the Taughannock gorge just upstream from the delta. West of Seneca Lake, the Tully is exposed at a falls on Kashong Creek in the hamlet of Bellona midway between Penn Yan and Geneva. South of that falls is another one exposed at Cascade Mills on the Keuka Outlet between Penn Yan and Dresden. That and the Seneca Mill falls are easily accessible from the Keuka Outlet Trail, but we’ll save them for another blog post.

Pothole in a block of Tully limestone that dropped down to the lower streambed… The flat sides follow joint planes. (ref. # D060920) © Dave Spier

Directions to Ludlowville: From the south take Route 34 north from Ithaca, turn left (west) on Route 34B in South Lansing, continue to Ludlowville Road, and turn right for a short distance. The park will be straight ahead, just across Salmon Creek Road / Mill Street. It’s then a short walk across the grass to the fence overlooking the falls. From the north, Routes 34/34B connect Auburn to Ithaca.

For more information, there is a facebook page devoted to the falls. It’s emphasis is fossil hunting.

For a regional waterfall guidebook or a downloadable e-book version, buy 200 Waterfalls in Central & Western New York – A Finder’s Guide by Rich & Sue Freeman. It covers the area from Niagara to Utica and Jamestown to Binghamton. Ludlowville is on pages 236-237 of the 2002 edition. Also check their website for updates to the book.

Corrections, comments, and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. For topics in the northeast, there is a separate community-type page at The Northeast Naturalist. Other northeast nature topics can be found on the parallel blog Northeast Naturalist.

Taughannock Falls

winter view of Taughannock Falls from the overlook on Park Road
© Dave Spier (ref. # 0016EX-24)

Taughannock Falls, NY (USA) — © Dave Spier

photos © Donna Mason-Spier, unless otherwise noted

The highest single-drop waterfalls in New York State is accessible from Rt. 89 northwest of Ithaca in New York’s Finger Lakes region. Taughannock Creek flows east as it descends the west slope of the Cayuga Trough to end in Cayuga Lake where it has created a flat delta. Since the end of the last Ice Age, two significant waterfalls have cut an impressive gorge into the Allegheny Plateau. To get a better overview of the park, I suggest first starting at the falls overlook on the north rim about a half mile uphill from Rt. 89. You’ll see part of the lower gorge below the main falls, the 400′ high amphitheater surrounding the falls, and you can glimpse the upper gorge above this falls. Further uphill (either by driving or by waking the rim trail) you can reach the old railroad bridge over the upper gorge and view the upper falls just below Falls Road.

Drive downhill on Taughannock Park Road and turn right (south) on Rt. 89, cross the creek and pull into the lower parking lot on your right. (In warm weather, if this lot is full, there are larger lots on the east side of Rt. 89, toward Taughannock Point, the delta created from sediments washed out of the hillside.) If you happen to return via Gorge Road on the south side, it would be a left turn at Rt. 89.

The lower falls capped by Tully limestone – © Donna Mason-Spier (ref. # D075270)

After a short walk from the lower parking area, you can see the first, fairly-low falls created by the resistant Tully limestone caprock.  Weak Hamilton shales at the base of this falls easily erode and allow blocks of the Devonian-age limestone to break off.

Joints (long cracks) cross the Tully limestone above the lower falls and result in step falls.- © Dave Spier (ref. # D062962)

Solution pits pock-mark the surface of the Tully limestone. – © Donna Mason-Spier (ref. # D075188)

As you can see in the photos, it’s possible to walk down to the creek bed and examine the solution pits on the limestone surface.

A “step” falls formed by an upper stratum of Tully limestone – © Donna Mason-Spier (ref. # D075191)

Above the lower falls, the creek has washed off the relatively flat surface of the Tully up to a wide “step” falls created by another layer of the limestone.  Above that, flat surfaces with minor steps continue upstream until they disappear under the dark, almost-black Geneseo shale. Along much of the three-quarter mile walking trail up the lower gorge, you’ll have first-hand access to this weak shale that crumbles and piles into talus slopes at the base of the cliff walls.

Black Geneseo shale forms talus slopes beside the lower gorge trail.
© Donna Mason-Spier (ref. # D075193)

If you look above the dark shale, you’ll see the beige cliffs formed by more resistant Sherburne siltstone, slightly younger rock overlying the Geneseo formation. Both are members of the upper Devonian Genesee group.

Beige cliffs of Sherburne siltstone overlie the dark Geneseo shale on the gorge walls. – © Donna Mason-Spier (ref. # D075246)

As you continue upstream to the base of 215′ high Taughannock Falls, the gorge deepens until you reach the wide amphitheater surrounding the main falls. The highest portion of the cliffs are Ithaca shale beginning about 25′ above the crest of the falls.  At that point the gorge is about 400′ deep.

The amphitheater surrounding the main Taughannock Falls is cut into a 150′ thick layer of Sherburne siltstone sandwiched between Ithaca shale on the rim and underlying dark Geneseo shale. – © Donna Mason-Spier (ref. # D075243)

You can get a good view of the falls from the footbridge over the creek, or you can continue a short distance to the last viewing area, but spray and mist often soak this spot.

Taughannock Falls: at 215′ the highest in New York State – © Donna Mason-Spier (ref. # D075238)

Yes, Taughannock is higher than Niagara, but of course it lacks the width and volume of water. (After all, Niagara drains the four upper Great Lakes on their way to Lake Ontario.) The highest water volumes are usually in early spring following snow-melt. Heavy summer storms can suddenly raise the water level and, in the past, have washed out portions of the trail.

Corrections, comments, and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. For topics in the northeast, there is a separate community-type page at The Northeast Naturalist. Other northeast nature topics can be found on the parallel blog Northeast Naturalist.

Chippewa Falls, Ontario

approaching the lower Chippewa Falls

Chippewa Falls (introduction) — © Dave Spier

At the east end of Lake Superior, Highway 17, the Trans-Canada Highway, crosses the Harmony River on the east side of Batchawana Bay near Harmony Beach. (This is the second bay on Lake Superior north of Sault Ste. Marie.) Just upstream from the bridge, a wayside park provides access to Chippewa Falls, which is actually two cascades 150 feet apart. The original bedrock is 2.7 billion-year-old pink granite, but, at the lower falls, it is still covered with a remnant of a 1.1 billion-year-old lava flow called the Keweenawan basalt that was extruded during the Grenville orogeny. The contact between the two rocks types represents 1.6 billion years of erosion that brought the granite to the surface by the time of the volcanic activity. A lateral fault cuts through both layers on the north side of the present-day lower falls (out of sight in the two opening photos).

A remnant of the gray, 1.1 billion-year-old lava flow called the Keweenawan basalt, extruded during the Grenville Orogeny (mountain-building episode), covers the 2.7 billion-year-old pink granite next to the lower Chippewa Falls (hidden right rear).

Potholes in the Keweenawan basalt are geologically-recent erosion features resulting from swirling eddies carrying abrasive sand, gravel and cobbles in a circular motion that grinds them down into the base rock.

A small remnant of the gray Keweenawan basalt covers the pink granite as we climb toward the lower Chippewa Falls.

erosion along several of the many joints in the pink granite provides a partial view of the lower Chippewa Falls

the lower Chippewa Falls

several visitors provide scale next to the crest of the lower Chippewa Falls

view further upstream looking across the pink granite bedrock toward the upper Chippawa Falls at upper right

The upper falls was created by a vertical diabase dike cutting across the granite. Here the fault displaces the dike by 30 feet upstream on the northwest side of the river. The upper falls can be reached by an 800 foot trail from the parking area although we didn’t have time to try it. Apparently the trail continues another 500 feet upstream to a bed of large boulders. If you were able to travel six miles further upstream, you’d reach the confluence with the Chippewa River.

The upper Chippewa Falls was created by a vertical, gray, diabase dike cutting across the pink granite. Here the fault displaces the 65-foot thick dike by 30 feet upstream on the northwest (left) side of the river.

Corrections, questions and suggestions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There is a separate community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. Other nature topics can be found on the parallel blog Northeast Naturalist.

calcite fills veins in the basalt at the contact with the original granite bedrock as we return to the lower level

Logs become trapped in erosional features that often result from joints and other fractures. Note the dark basalt at the top overlying the granite underneath.

reference: Roadside Geology of Ontario — North Shore of Lake Superior by E. G. Pye, 1997, pgs. 130-131

“A plaque erected by the Ontario Motor League highlights Batchawana Bay (at Chippewa Falls) as the mid-point in the longest national highway in the world — the Trans-Canada Highway.” (from the Batchawana Bay PP page )