Agers Falls is an 18-foot waterfall on the Moose River in Lewis County, New York, just below a hydroelectric dam. It lies in the Agers Falls Recreational and Historical Area near Lyons Falls, on the site of a 19th-century paper mill.
The falls
The sources agree on a height of 18 feet. The cascade is described as rectangular, with a power plant and dam sitting just upstream.
Getting there
The falls are in the town of Lyonsdale, off Lyonsdale Road (County Route 39) about two miles beyond the Black River crossing at Lyons Falls. An unpaved lot at the recreation area entrance sits about two minutes' walk from the falls on a dirt path. The one-mile Moose River Trail follows the river from a second parking area west of the site. The area has a boat launch, a picnic area and a historical pavilion. Fees and hours aren't published.
When to go
A 2018 federal hydropower assessment says the recreation area is typically open from May through October, depending on weather.
On site
Signs at the falls warn of the dam upstream and of fast-rising water: leave the area as soon as the siren sounds. The area includes a picnic and swim area, and Lewis County promotes the falls for kayakers who run the drop and for rafting.
History and name
The falls are named for Joel W. Ager, a New Hampshire papermaker born in 1820, who built a paper mill here in the 1840s. An early industrial complex here included a rag paper mill, a sawmill, workers' houses, the mill owner's house and a family cemetery. The water-powered sawmill went up in 1871 and burned in 1902.
Nearby
The Moose River has a string of falls within a mile: Lyonsdale Falls is about 0.4 mile away, Double Drop Falls about 0.6 mile and Crystal Falls about 0.9 mile.
Distances are straight-line.