Buttermilk Falls is a stunning cascade of waterfalls located in Ithaca, about an hour and fifteen minutes away from Syracuse, New York! The drive to Ithaca is my favorite – it’s so peaceful and as you head into Ithaca you pass so many little waterfalls! This is a super well known spot to cool off, so come early in the day to beat the crowds.

For me, Buttermilk Falls is an all day adventure! When my friend Gianna and I first arrived, we parked in this little parking lot across the road from the top of Buttermilk Falls and headed to where we thought the falls were, on the same side of the road as the parking lot. We walked maybe a half mile and found a mini waterfall and were confused where the rest was!

We kept hiking past it and up a set of stairs made out of rocks until we came to the conclusion that this isn’t the right spot. So we headed back to the mini waterfall and picnicked there for lunch. We had nutella sandwiches (a classic for my road trips) and mini sandwiches that her mom gave us. Even though we had just begun our day at the waterfall, this was a nice little break since it was sooo hot that day. Afterwards we headed back to our car, got in and began to drive away to see where Buttermilk Falls actually was. As soon as we turned out of the parking lot, we saw a small sign for Buttermilk Falls and people entering the little path so we immediately turned around and parked our car where we just had it!

When we entered the little path, it was like our world changed. We entered into this oasis of a cascade which led us through many mini waterfalls, leading up to the big one at the very bottom, known as Buttermilk Falls. About halfway down we decided it was time to cool off so we hopped in one of the “lagoons” for a swim. It was so relaxing and refreshing!

Eventually we made our way down to the main waterfall and it was so pretty. I didn’t happen to take a picture of it, oops! At the bottom there is a lifeguarded area where you are supposed to go swimming, but it wasn’t open so we headed back up to swim some more. We ran into some other people around our age who were jumping from a ledge into the “lagoon” below and decided to join them! It was so much fun. The other kids were doing flips but I am not ~talented~ so I pencil dove hahah. Afterwards we headed back to our car to make our way home. Buttermilk is definitely one of my favorite waterfalls in Ithaca, can’t wait to go back!

Here is the location of the parking lot at the top of the falls! The coordinates are from the picture of the mini falls picture below, but to get to that you have to go through the parking lot so it should take you right there! 42.404, -76.511

I would consider this hike difficult because the way back up the waterfall I was out of breath and my legs were burning! It was a pretty steep hike up. However, it wasn’t too strenuous.