| Directions
Since this waterfall is on private property, we are
not providing specific details on its access.
|
| County: |
Jefferson |
| Town: |
Watertown |
| USGS Map: |
Rutland Center |
| Waterway: |
Unnamed
waterway |
| Latitude: |
N 43°
57' 48" |
| Longitude: |
W 75° 51' 48" |
| Drop: |
35' |
| Type: |
Ribbon cascade |
| Region: |
East of Watertown |
| Parking: |
NA |
| Trail type: |
NA |
| Length of hike: |
NA |
| Difficulty: |
NA |
| Accessibility: |
Private |
| Name: |
Official |
|
 This very nice waterfall
within a short distance of the Watertown city limits came as a total
surprise to me. As a native of Watertown, I had never heard
of it. It is listed on the World Waterfall Database as Rutland
Hollow Falls. When I discovered where it was, I reached out
to a good friend that lives immediately across the road from it.
Within a span of about 12 hours, I talked with some old friends,
two of whom I've known for over 50 years, who live very close to
it and know it well. I heard many stories about swimming there
when they were kids.
We must stress that it is located on private property.
When we first learned of it, a Watertown-based
church owned it. Since then, it has changed hands.
It is flowing during most of the year, except of course during
the winter when everything is frozen. Located off the east
end of Lake Ontario, Watertown is known as Snowtown USA. The
snow and cold is legendary!
The aforementioned
friends who grew up in this area in the fifties and sixties know
this as Butternut Falls, because of the prevalence of Butternut
trees in the area. The name of this waterfall is now
official, having been added to the GNIS data base on November 9,
2017.
Some might consider this a step-type waterfall because, as the
pictures show, you can see the layers of rock forming steps in its
path. However, these steps drop very quickly. Unlike
some step-falls that you could literally walk up, this is very steep
and is more of a cascade. The top few steps drop six to eight
feet gradually. The center section is a rapid succession of
steps dropping about 20'. It then levels out very briefly
before the final drop of another eight feet or so.
We have found a few waterfalls like this one. It is a true
beauty, virtually unknown and hidden within a very short distance
of a fairly populated area.
The stream it is on flows out of an area
known as Rutland Hollow, a valley east of the city. We
have been told by various sources that the creek is known as
Fall Creek, Butternut Creek and Rutland Hollow Creek. It
appears that the references have been based on where or when
residents lived in the area. Officially, the creek is
unnamed.
This unnamed stream flows into the Black River less than a
mile downstream from here. The Black finds its way to Lake
Ontario in Dexter, New York.
Last update: November 27, 2019
|
