Kaaterskill Falls
June 18, 2011
Photographer: Jean LeBlanc; Jean's Website
Summary Author: Jean LeBlanc; Jim Foster
The highest waterfall in New York State isn't famed Niagara, the two-stepped Kaaterskill Falls in the Catskill Mountains is even taller. The upper falls tumbles over its sandstone step 180 ft (55 m) and the lower falls adds another 80 ft (24 m) to the overall height. Shale beneath the overhanging Devonian sandstone has weathered deeper back into the cliff, accounting for the photogenic nature of these falls. Thomas Cole, one of the Hudson River School painters in the mid-19th century, immortalized this view of Kaaterskill Falls. Photo taken on May 26, 2011.