Fairy Ladder Falls is a waterfall on Gill Brook in Essex County, New York, in the Northeastern Highlands region, with a total height of about 90 feet. It lies about 11.9 miles southeast of North Elba and roughly 89 miles north of Schenectady as the crow flies.
At 90 feet it is taller than the typical New York waterfall of about 50.5 feet, ranking 52nd of 184 with a recorded height.
The Northeastern Highlands are the mountains of northern New England and the Adirondacks, with spruce-fir on the summits and northern hardwood forest of maple, beech and birch below, and countless lakes and boulder-strewn brooks. Fast mountain streams drop over granite and gneiss ledges in chains of falls and pools. Gill Brook carries 3 recorded waterfalls, and Fairy Ladder Falls is the tallest of them.
There are 63 recorded waterfalls in Essex County. Rainbow Falls, 150 feet high, is about 1.4 miles away. Falls, The, is about 1.6 miles away. Artists Falls, 10 feet high, is about 2 miles away.
Fairy Ladder Falls is located at 44.0997° N, 73.8211° W. The listing is based on the World Waterfall Database, one of the sources compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey in its inventory of waterfalls and rapids of the conterminous United States. The creek name is confirmed against the federal Geographic Names Information System. The exact position has not yet been verified on aerial imagery, so treat the map pin as approximate. Details on trails, parking and access have not been documented for this waterfall yet.