Bastion Falls is a 62-foot waterfall on Lake Creek in Greene County, New York, dropping in two horsetail steps beside the sharp hairpin of Route 23A in Kaaterskill Clove, about 2.8 miles northwest of Palenville. The most accessible and prominent waterfall in the clove, it marks the lower end of the trail up to Kaaterskill Falls.
The falls
Lake Creek, the same stream that forms Kaaterskill Falls upstream, falls in two tiers with a tallest drop of 36 feet, about 60 feet wide on average. In high water the upper falls spread into a broad curtain and the creek splits in two before the lower falls; by summer and fall the flow shrinks to a much narrower ribbon. A survey puts the total at 62 feet. The county visitor guide uses 71 feet.
Getting there
The falls are in the Kaaterskill Wild Forest, managed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. There is no parking on Route 23A; cars left on the roadside are towed. The Laurel House Lane or Scutt Road lots are the nearest parking instead.
From Laurel House Road, the route passes the Kaaterskill Falls viewing platform, drops by rock, wood and dirt steps to the base of Kaaterskill Falls and continues down to Bastion Falls, 3.12 miles round trip with 577 feet of descent and climb back, very easy to the platform and moderate below it. A 2026 state visitor-use report recommends limiting the stretch of trail between Route 23A and Bastion Falls to emergency use, with a viewpoint and turnaround instead.
When to go
March to June is the period of strongest flow. The trail turns very icy in winter.
On site
The falls cascade over rocky ledges among boulders and forest. In October 2020 a 65-year-old hiker fell about 20 feet at Bastion Falls and was seriously hurt; forest rangers carried him out to a helicopter.
History and name
The falls are also known as Horseshoe Falls and Rip Van Winkle Falls.
Nearby
Kaaterskill Falls, on the same creek, is about 0.4 mile away. Santa Cruz Falls and Five Cascades lie about 0.8 and 0.9 mile off.
Distances are straight-line.