| Directions
As you travel south from the village of Long Lake on
NYS Routes 30/28N, you will be paralleling the lake for
a stretch. Where the road makes a sweeping bend and
up a hill to the left, the North Point Road will exit to
the right. Follow this, also known as CR 3, for about
2.1 miles. There will be a small parking area on the
right with a sign indicating "Buttermilk Falls".
|
| County: |
Hamilton |
| Town: |
Arietta |
| USGS Map: |
Deerland |
| Waterway: |
Raquette River |
| Latitude: |
N 43°
54' 53" |
| Longitude: |
W 74°
29' 03" |
| Drop: |
25' |
| Type: |
Rectangular Block |
| Region: |
Off
NY 28 between Long Lake and Blue Mountain Lake |
| Parking: |
Unpaved
lot |
| Trail
type: |
Dirt |
| Length
of hike: |
350'/2
minutes |
| Difficulty: |
Easy |
| Accessibility: |
Public |
| Name: |
Official |
|
 From the parking area, you
are about 350' from the falls down a trail that is fairly welled
maintained and easy to pass.
Buttermilk Falls is a very picturesque setting. It
is located on the Raquette River, which is one of New York State's
longest. Even in late summer, there is a significant amount
of water flowing. This, along with signs promoting it and
its ease of access, makes Buttermilk a very popular place to visit.
Russell Dunn in his book "Adirondack Waterfall Guide"
lists the Raquette River as the second longest in the state.
I've seen this same claim on a couple of websites promoting the
river and Buttermilk Falls. Wikipedia lists it as 146 miles
and states that it is the "third longest river entirely in
the state of New York". It lists the Hudson (315 miles)
and Genesee (157 miles) ahead of it. This could present some
argument. The Hudson starts and ends in New York State and
it never leaves the state, per se. A portion of it, however,
does form the border with New Jersey which a purist might argue
means that it is not "entirely" within New York State.
Likewise, Wikipedia lists the source of the Genesee as being in
Ulysses Township, Potter County, Pennsylvania. Although a
very small portion of it is actually in Pennsylvania, how is it
that it is entirely within New York? Looking at these facts,
perhaps the Raquette is the longest river located completely within
the state borders!
Do not be confused with this name. There are a lot of
Buttermilk Falls out there. This website lists seven (7)
of them in northern New York alone. With the same number
of Rainbow Falls, it is tied for second place in terms of the
most popular waterfall name in the region. With double
that number, High Falls tops the list. Many sources list
Long Lake as the location of this Buttermilk Falls. It is
true that the easiest route to the falls is through that town,
but note that it is actually in the town of Arietta. A
mere 400 feet or so separates it from the Long Lake town line.
The Raquette River enters Long Lake within a mile downstream
of this location. From there it flows into Raquette Pond,
which could be considered as part of Tupper Lake. The river
eventually makes its way into the St. Lawrence river in Massena,
New York.
Last update: August 9, 2019
|
