Waterfall Hikes Near Cooperstown, NY

Leatherstocking Falls, the cascade from James Fenimore Cooper's tales about 2 miles from the village, sits on private farmland with no public trail, so it is not a hike. The closest falls you can reach is Judds Falls near Cherry Valley, about 14 miles northeast, where the top shows from Salt Springville Road and an unmaintained path drops to the base. Canajoharie Falls, about 25 miles northeast in Wintergreen Park, is a drop of roughly 45 feet at the end of a one-mile round-trip gravel path with a viewing platform. The Buttermilk Falls 12 miles east, also called Ferris Falls, sits under a road bridge on Oak Creek in Decatur on posted land with no path. The page counts 33 falls within 50 miles.