Waterfalls Guide
Kerhonkson, New York
Awosting Falls
Plan Awosting Falls near Kerhonkson, New York: 0.5 mi route details, parking and directions, best time to visit, safety notes, and 8 waterfall photos.
60 ft0.5 mi8 photos
New York is one of the most waterfall-rich states in the country. Almost every major search for New York waterfalls ends up funneling into the same five regional clusters: Niagara Falls on the Canadian border, the Finger Lakes gorges south of Lake Ontario (Watkins Glen, Taughannock at about 215 feet, Buttermilk, Ithaca Falls, Robert H. Treman), the Catskills on the west side of the Hudson (Kaaterskill Falls at about 260 feet over two tiers), the Adirondacks in the northeast (High Falls Gorge, OK Slip, Buttermilk near Long Lake), and the Shawangunk Ridge south of the Catskills in the Hudson Valley. The state holds hundreds of named drops between them.
Waterfalls Guide currently publishes one New York trip in full: Awosting Falls, a 60-foot single-tier plunge over Shawangunk Conglomerate on Peters Kill in Minnewaska State Park Preserve, Ulster County. It is the headline waterfall of the Shawangunk Ridge, reachable on a flat 0.5-mile carriage-road walk for a $10 vehicle entrance fee, with Lake Minnewaska a half-mile away as the legal swimming alternative.
The rest of the New York roster (Niagara, the Finger Lakes gorges, Kaaterskill, the Adirondack falls) is on the roadmap but not yet covered here. Until those guides land, the New York State Parks, Niagara Falls State Park, Department of Environmental Conservation, and Finger Lakes State Parks Region pages remain the standard references. This hub is honest about that gap rather than padding it with thin coverage of falls we have not yet researched in full.
When to visit New York.
The best windows for Hudson Valley and Shawangunk waterfalls are mid-April through mid-May for snowmelt and spring rain off the ridge, and the second and third weeks of October for peak Shawangunk hardwood color above the cliff line. Awosting reads as a thick continuous curtain in the spring window and frames against yellow and red foliage in the fall window. Summer is a quick stop on the way to the Lake Minnewaska swimming beach; the falls runs lighter but the trail is still family-friendly and the Preserve is in heaviest day-use demand.
Winter in the Shawangunks occasionally produces a partial ice column at Awosting in cold years, typically late January through mid-February. The carriage road is plowed irregularly and microspikes are recommended on the short descent to the plunge pool. NY State Parks does not formally close the trail in winter, but the gate hours and snow conditions can shift the practical visit window. Check the Minnewaska State Park Preserve page on parks.ny.gov before driving on any winter or shoulder-season day.
For New York's other waterfall regions the seasonal calculus shifts. The Finger Lakes gorges at Watkins Glen, Buttermilk, Robert H. Treman, and Taughannock typically open their formal gorge trails in mid-May and close them in early November because the trail surfaces (carved stone steps and gunite paths) become unsafe under ice. The Catskills hold their color a week later than the Shawangunks in most years, with Kaaterskill Falls running heaviest in the spring snowmelt window. Niagara runs year-round and is most spectacular in deep winter when the American Falls partially ices over.
By region.
Shawangunk Ridge and Hudson Valley
The Shawangunk Ridge runs north-south through Ulster and Sullivan counties on the west side of the Hudson Valley, with the bulk of the public-access land split between Minnewaska State Park Preserve (24,272 acres, NY State Parks) and the Mohonk Preserve (about 8,000 acres, private nonprofit). The ridge is built on Silurian-age Shawangunk Conglomerate, a tough quartz-pebble sandstone that forms a continuous cliff line and gives the Gunks their reputation as one of the best traditional rock-climbing areas in the eastern United States. Awosting Falls sits in the northern lobe of Minnewaska on Peters Kill; the other Preserve waterfall destinations include Verkeerderkill Falls at Sam's Point and the smaller Peters Kill cascades, neither published here yet. New Paltz is the regional base for food, lodging, and trailhead access on Route 44/55.
Questions visitors ask about New York waterfalls.
How many waterfalls are in New York?
New York holds hundreds of named waterfalls, concentrated in five regions: Niagara Falls on the Canadian border, the Finger Lakes gorges south of Lake Ontario (Watkins Glen alone has 19 named falls on a 1.5-mile trail), the Catskill Park west of the Hudson (Kaaterskill Falls at about 260 feet is the headliner), the Adirondack Park in the northeast (OK Slip, High Falls Gorge, Buttermilk near Long Lake), and the Shawangunk Ridge in Ulster County (Awosting Falls, Verkeerderkill Falls, the Peters Kill cascades). Waterfalls Guide currently publishes one New York trip in full, Awosting Falls in Minnewaska State Park Preserve, with the rest on the roadmap.
What is the tallest waterfall in New York?
By total drop, the tallest waterfall in New York is Niagara Falls (the American Falls is about 180 feet and the Horseshoe Falls about 167 feet, but the combined volume and width put Niagara in a different category than single-drop heights elsewhere in the state). By single-tier drop in a typical eastern waterfall setting, Taughannock Falls north of Ithaca is roughly 215 feet, one of the tallest single drops east of the Rockies. Kaaterskill Falls in the Catskills is about 260 feet over two tiers, often cited as the tallest waterfall in New York outside Niagara because it is a multi-tier total drop rather than a single sheer plunge. Local and state references vary depending on how the question is asked.
Where is Awosting Falls?
Awosting Falls is in the northern lobe of Minnewaska State Park Preserve in Ulster County, New York, on Peters Kill. The gatehouse is at 5281 Route 44/55, Kerhonkson, NY 12446, about 11 miles west of New Paltz on Route 44/55. The Preserve is on the Shawangunk Ridge in the Hudson Valley and is the headline destination of the Shawangunks for non-climbers. Minnewaska charges a $10 vehicle entrance fee at the gatehouse (Empire Pass accepted), opens at 9 a.m. daily, and is day use only.
What is Shawangunk Conglomerate?
Shawangunk Conglomerate is a Silurian-age (roughly 420 million years old) sedimentary rock made of rounded white quartz pebbles cemented in a hard quartz-sandstone matrix. The pebbles are themselves the survivors of an even earlier round of mountain-building, which is why the rock is so resistant to weathering. The same formation builds the cliff line that runs the length of the Shawangunk Ridge, gives the Gunks their reputation as one of the best traditional rock-climbing destinations in the eastern United States, and is the reason the lip of Awosting Falls is sharp-edged rather than rounded. Most eastern waterfalls erode into concave bowls behind the curtain; Awosting's vertical wall is the visible signature of the conglomerate's refusal to weather.
Are there sky lakes in the Shawangunks?
Yes. Four ridge-top oligotrophic lakes sit on the conglomerate above 1,500 feet on the Shawangunk Ridge: Mohonk Lake (on Mohonk Preserve land at the historic Mountain House), Lake Minnewaska (in Minnewaska State Park Preserve near the upper parking lot and the swimming beach), Lake Awosting (in the Preserve, about three miles southwest of the falls), and Lake Maratanza (at Sam's Point at the southern end of the ridge). These lakes are oligotrophic because the conglomerate basin offers almost no soluble minerals, so the water carries very little dissolved nutrient load and stays extremely clear. Lake Minnewaska is the only one of the four with a designated public swimming beach with lifeguards on a posted summer schedule.
What does Awosting mean?
The name Awosting is a probable Anglicization of a Munsee-Lenape root often rendered as wasing or awasin, meaning roughly place at the top or at the high place. It is applied first to the ridge-crest lake about three miles southwest of the falls and then to the falls and to the creek that drains the lake. Lake Minnewaska, by contrast, is a 19th-century coinage in the Dakota language imported by the resort builders; the two names sit side by side on a Shawangunk ridge that was Munsee-Lenape country long before either word reached the trail signs.
When is the best time to visit New York waterfalls?
For the Hudson Valley and the Shawangunks, mid-April through mid-May is the loudest window (snowmelt and spring rain off the ridge) and the second and third weeks of October are the foliage window. The Finger Lakes formal gorge trails open in mid-May and close in early November because the carved stone steps become unsafe under ice; plan summer or early fall for Watkins Glen, Taughannock, and Buttermilk. The Catskills peak with snowmelt and again with foliage about a week later than the Shawangunks. Niagara runs year-round at extreme volume and is most spectacular in deep winter when the American Falls partially ices over.
All 1 New York guides.