Harriman Hiker: Harriman State Park and Beyond: Kakiat Waterfalls

Kakiat County Park
Rockland County,
New York

Trails:
Old Mill Trail: Blue blaze
Kakiat Trail: White blaze
Gas Line Trail: Unmarked
Unmarked Kakiat Trails

Total Time: 1:00 hr
Estimated Distance: 1.9 Miles

I had not been able to hike the previous day on Sunday because of a large rainstorm. It was a heavy cold rain, which is one of the few conditions that I don't go hiking in. So I made up for this by doing a short hike to the waterfalls at Kakiat, knowing all that rain was going to provide enough water to make the waterfalls beautiful.

The Kakiat waterfalls are seasonal. In the dry summer months they are nothing more then a trickle; the best time to visit them is after a good rainfall. I started the hike at the Kakiat parking circle, crossed the bridge and took the Old Mill Trail past the old mill to the end. Then took the Kakiat Trail west towards the mountain, and after crossing the gas line climbed just a little bit and veered off to the left to the stream, where I took it along up through the series of cascading waterfalls. There are several small waterfalls here, and each make good photo oppurtunities. After getting to the top of the highest falls, bushwacked back to the Kakiat Trail, took it down to the Gas Line, then took the Gas Line Trail south. From there headed off the spur near the mountain trail at the southern end of the Kakiat park border, and then took another path from there back to the parking area.