Trip Report: Buttermilk Falls State Park in New York
Today we went to Buttermilk Falls State Park near Ithaca, New York. We’d been told that there was swimming allowed at the bottom of the falls, so we brought our bathing suits, figuring we could change there. The falls are absolutely beautiful, and really do look kind of like buttermilk pouring down the side of the mountain.
The water is cold, but it would be a beautiful and run place to swim.
I missed the turn and stopped at the Buttermilk Ball Fields or something to turn around. The parking lot costs $9 to park in, though the attendant did tell us the permit is good for any NY state park, so if you wanted to do several in a day, you could pay once and do that. You could also have driven and parked at the different lots associated with Buttermilk Falls (the Ball Fields, the Lower Park Entrance where we were, or the Upper Park Entrance). Even though there was an attendant, there was an automated machine to pay for parking, just like at Watkins Glen State Park, so you could use your credit card and collect the ticket to put on your dashboard.
There is camping available at this park, but I'm glad we weren't camping. There have been really severe thunderstorms with heavy downpours pretty much every day we've been in the area. It's July, and I'm not sure if this is usual for the region. You enter through the same Lower Park Entrance we did and then the camping is to the left. The map shows a Bathhouse and Restrooms, so there should be bathing facilities at the campground. There are also signs saying that you have to carry out all your garbage and recyclables.
Sadly, there were big signs up saying no swimming. I’m not sure if this was due to the thunderstorms or something else, but it’s clear that there’s usually a lifeguard and there wasn’t today. There are ropes up, so you could see where the swimming area usually is.
The water was cold, but the air was so hot it felt good and I might have been persuaded to get in with the kids. Just below the pool at the bottom of the falls, there’s an area of the creek that kids were wading in. Ours, of course, wanted to join right in.
If you cross the little bridge there and turn right, it takes you to a nice big playground. There weren’t many kids there, but there were a lot in the water and at the many picnic tables with their families.
This is clearly a popular place. I wonder how many other folks had come today thinking they could swim. There are bathrooms, so we could have changed there, and that’s an important facility when there are so many people staying to swim and hike all afternoon, for example.
We made it down the hill to the car just in time. There was really loud thunder and lightning as we were getting to the bottom. I’d hoped to have time to use the bathroom before getting in the car, but we had to make a run for it, barely managing to keep dry.
The falls themselves make the visit worth it, but when the weather is nice, I'd recommend checking in advance to see if the swimming at the bottom of the falls is open.
