Mount Ida Falls is a 118-foot tiered waterfall on the Poesten Kill in the city of Troy, Rensselaer County, New York. The creek drops through a narrow gorge, and the falls can be seen from Poesten Kill Gorge Park off Linden Avenue.
The falls
The falls descend as tiered horsetails across five drops: two in the narrow upper gorge, the larger about 32 feet, followed by three lower tiers measuring about 32, 16 and 10 feet. An earlier survey listed 120 feet across six drops, while another historical account cites about 150 feet. A hydroelectric intake sits right at the top of the falls and can divert much of the spring flow, but minimum releases keep water going over the ledges year-round.
Getting there
Visitors reach Poesten Kill Gorge Park from Route 66 by turning onto Linden Avenue just after the bridge over the Poesten Kill, where the falls are visible from the parking lot. The gorge itself is off-limits: the City of Troy prohibits entering it, climbing and swimming, with trespassers facing $250 fines in 2022 and beyond.
When to go
Flow is strongest from November through May.
On site
Fences and warning signs went up after a drowning in 2020. The gorge has also seen a hiker drown in 2017 and a fatal fall from the cliffs in 2016. Stay behind the fences and view the falls from the park.
History and name
Older names include Poestenkill Falls, High Falls and Wire Mill Falls. Historical accounts suggest a mill may have used the falls as early as 1660, and mills and factories lined the creek in the 1800s; the hydroelectric station dates from the 1950s. The creek's name traces to a resident named Wemp who went by "Poest", combined with the Dutch word kill, meaning creek.
Nearby
Burden Falls on the Wynants Kill is about 1.4 miles away. Eagle Mills Falls, upstream on the Poesten Kill, is about 3.8 miles, and Cohoes Falls on the Mohawk River is about 4.8 miles.
Distances are straight-line.