Taughannock Falls State Park

Vibrant Fall Colors on a Cloudy Morning

Even with the cloudy morning conditions, Taughannock's colors come alive when temperatures turn cooler. I did a rim trail hike while listening to a podcast and found myself stopping more often than normal to capture these pictures.

The lack of volume flowing over the falls made it easy to see the shelves of rock just under the surface of the water from this beautiful perch.

From the North Rim trail, just above the overlook

From the North Rim trail, just above the overlook

This is one of my favorite vistas: the mouth of the gorge opening to Cayuga Lake. The gorge walls are filled with color!

The mouth of the gorge opening to Cayuga Lake

The mouth of the gorge opening to Cayuga Lake

You can see this fabulous view from the South rim trail. The waterfall is just around the bend to the left.

Taughannock's base trail, after the bend, leading toward the falls

Taughannock's base trail, after the bend, leading toward the falls

DEC sign and boot-scraping station

DEC sign and boot-scraping station

There are also some new DEC signs in the park. I spotted this one at the Jacksonville Road parking lot, and there's another at the overlook. In short, non-native animals, seeds, and plant parts can be carried from place to place by humans. Our shoes are no exception. The shoe brushes are a fun way to keep your shoes free of seeds and other detritus as you enter and leave the park. Learn more at PlayCleanGo.org.