Second Dam is the perfect spot to go cliff jumping and have a relaxing swim in Upstate New York! This hidden gem is located in East Ithaca, about a 1.5 hour drive from Syracuse, making this a very convenient day trip for those in Central New York.

I asked my friends who went we me what their thoughts were, this is how Gianna describes this place. “This is for sure the definition of a hidden gem. It’s tucked away behind those woods. The cliff feelsss wayyyyy higher when you’re actually up there but once you jump it’s so freeing!”

In this blog, I’m going to share how exactly to find Second Dam, and how to go cliff jumping there!

Day Trip to Second Dam at a Glance:

How to Find Second Dam
Hanging out on Six Mile Creek
How to Find the Cliff Jumping Spot
Coordinates for Second Dam

How to Find Second Dam

Following the GPS location to get here, my friends and I ended up in the middle of a neighborhood, which made it seem like we had the wrong address for Second Dam. But, as we drove through the neighborhood, we came across a sign that indicated a path to Second Dam. Since there wasn’t any parking in the neighborhood (that we wouldn’t get towed for if we used), we drove back to Slaterville Road, took a right and parked in the parking lot of Calvary Chapel on the left side of the road.

We then walked back through the neighborhood and took the path we originally found (I don’t have the coordinates for the path unfortunately). The path was anywhere between one and two miles long, but it wasn’t strenuous or anything. It was actually really serene! The path will take you behind the houses under a bunch of trees, and eventually you will come to a clearing. When you reach the clearing you should see a path (big enough for trucks to drive on) that intersects the path you are on, perpendicularly. Once you get to that point, take a right and Second Dam will be up a little further on your left.

Do be aware that you will have to walk down a super steep hill at this point (and eventually have to climb back up it), so if you are injured in any way it will be very difficult to reach this spot (P.S. more details about how to get here at the bottom of this post!)

Hanging out on Six Mile Creek

Once we arrived, there were only like two other people there, so my friends and I basically had this beautiful spot to ourselves! One guy was sitting in a camping chair reading a book, and another person was doing laps in the creek. We decided to jump in immediately and explore, luckily I brought my GoPro with me this day to capture some of the beauty in the water!

As you can see in the pictures above, there is a waterfall on the dam that you can swim up to! I wasn’t even expecting a waterfall – this comes as a surprise to me since I normally know about all of them!

How to Find the Cliff Jumping Spot

Most people will come here to Second Dam to go cliff jumping. My friends and I actually had no idea how to get to the spot where you jump from until a local, who happened to go to Cornell, showed us! Basically you need to climb up the dirt above the little hut, and eventually you need to jump down on top of the hut. The guy we met helped us jump down onto the landing, and thankfully someone left a mattress for a more comfortable jump.

The guy who helped us find the cliff jumping spot gave us some great pointers. The first one being: DO NOT jump to the left side of the landing. There are rocks there and someone has died jumping to the left before!!! If you jump straight out you’ll be golden!

The second tip he gave us was: you can’t hesitate. If you hesitate you could possibly stumble and hurt yourself jumping in by not jumping out far enough. So keep that in mind!

I’m not gonna lie, I definitely hesitated A BUNCH before I jumped in. It was scary and we were up so high! And there’s even a higher spot that you can jump from – my friends and I didn’t bother attempting this but another person there did out of nowhere and I caught it on video (on my Instagram)!

I was the first to jump in of my friends. I waited in the water for my two friends to jump in after me but they were a little more hesitant – which is totally understandable because it was a big jump! Gianna ended up jumping in before Bailey, and I jumped in again with Bailey to help encourage her!

After we conquered our fears, we swam a little bit more and decided to head back home. This was such a fun adventure and I definitely recommend bringing your besties and some lunch to have a picnic!

Address for Second Dam

Here are the coordinates for Second Dam : 42.425, -76.474. This should take you as far as you’ll be able to go by car, and you should see the sign for the path that takes you to Second Dam, as I described above.

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Have you visited Second Dam yet? How long did it take for you to jump from the cliff? Comment below!!