Lucifer Falls is a 122-foot veiling horsetail waterfall on Enfield Creek in Robert H. Treman State Park, Tompkins County, New York, in the upper part of the gorge once known as Enfield Glen. It is reached by a short loop trail starting from the Upper Entrance.
The falls
Enfield Creek spreads into a veil usually 35 to 40 feet wide and drops into a deep rock amphitheater; in flood it can fan out to more than 130 feet across at the base. The stream turns sharply just below, hiding the falls from downstream. Field surveys measure a single 122-foot drop, though an earlier survey listed 115 feet, a figure still used in park materials. The gorge is cut into Devonian shale and sandstone, and near the falls the creek abandoned its older, glacial-drift-filled channel and carved a new one.
Getting there
The park is at 105 Enfield Falls Road outside Ithaca. From the Upper Entrance lot, the Gorge Trail and Rim Trail form a loop of about 1.1 miles with 275 feet of gain, graded as moderate because of the stone and wooden stairs, nearly 300 feet of which have to be climbed on the way back.
Entry is $10 per car and $35 per bus, collected April through November; the $80 Empire Pass covers it. The park is open year round from dawn to dusk. As of September 2026, all trails, including the Gorge Trail, remain open for the season.
When to go
The creek drains about 27 square miles and keeps a modest flow year round except in severe drought. The Gorge and Rim trails typically close from November through May because of ice and freeze-thaw rockfall; the Gorge Trail reopens only after staff remove winter-loosened rock from the cliffs above it.
On site
The Gorge Trail descends a stone staircase beside the falls, and the Rim Trail across the gorge looks down on them from the cliff top. A footbridge crosses below; at low water experienced hikers rock-hop upstream toward the base. Swimming is allowed only in the park's lifeguarded area, open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. from late June to Labor Day in 2026. Up to two pets are allowed on a leash no longer than 6 feet.
History and name
In William H. Brewer's account of the area, visiting tourists gave the falls the name Lucifer, while local children simply called the ravine the Gulf. Robert H. Treman and his wife Laura donated the land in 1920, and the park, first called Enfield Glen State Park, was renamed for him after his death in 1937. The Civilian Conservation Corps built stone stairs along the Gorge Trail in the 1930s.
Nearby
Fish Kill Falls is about 0.3 mile away, and Sulphur Falls, also on Enfield Creek, about 0.7 mile. Lower Falls (Robert H. Treman State Park), about 1.2 miles downstream in the same park, has the swimming area.
Distances are straight-line.