Taughannock Falls State Park

Moonrise Hike

Summer hikes are particularly nice in the early morning or late evening, before and after larger groups of visitors come to the park. Last night was one such evening. We hit the trail at 8:15 p.m., after the heat of the day had passed and just before dusk descended. As we crested the South Rim, the full moon rose through the trees to our left, casting wonderful shafts of moonlight across the darkening trail. With nobody else around, the sounds of animals in the woods to our left and water cascading to our right was surreal. We arrived back at our car a short hour after we started, renewed and refreshed just before dusk turned to night.