Ganoga Falls is the largest of the many waterfalls in Ricketts Glen Start Park. The falls drops 94' feet in two distinct sections. The top half is a steep narrow slide that fans out. The bottom half is a wider, and the rock face is nearly vertical. The falls is considerably higher than any of the others in the park, or in the nearby state lands. The runner up, Ozone Falls is only 60' high.

Ganoga Falls it the fourth falls from the top of Ganoga Glen, but it is first of the large falls. The easiest way to see the falls is to park at the Rose Lake parking area and hike the half mile down the glen trail to see the falls. It is all downhill, and the trail drops at least 250'. If you are going to take the time to see Ganoga Falls you might as well make the extra effort and visit all the falls in the park.

This is a very popular waterfall, so unless you visit it at an unusual time, expect to find a lot of people at the falls.

Ganoga is the name of the falls, the gorge, and the lake from which this branch of Kitchen Creek originates. Like many of the native words the exact meaning of 'Ganoga' is unknown. One theory is that it is an Iroqouian word for 'water on the mountain'. Another theory is that it is a Cayugan word for 'place of floating oil'. An interesting historical tidbit is that a well was drilled in 1865 in what are now the park lands after oil was fraudulently added to springs in order to convince investors that petroleum was present.

Nearby Falls

Mohican Falls is 0.3 miles downstream, and Erie Falls is a few hundred yards beyond that. Upstream of Ganoga Falls are the much smaller Mohawk Falls, Oneida Falls, and Cayuga Falls. Much wilder falls such as Big Falls and Sullivan Falls can be found a few miles to the west. Dozens of other waterfalls can be found within a 50 mile radius.

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Last Modified: Tuesday, 16-Jun-2015 21:21:22 MDT.