Today we’re sharing an awesome family winter adventure in Taughannock Falls State Park in Ithaca, NY with Jamie Love and her family. Jamie is an inspiring professional photographer, outdoor enthusiast and mom of three. She’s taking us for a hike through one of her favorite local state parks to visit the awesome frozen waterfalls. Along the way, she’s sharing tips for hiking with kids, ways to turn your hike into an adventure and some truly gorgeous images. I absolutely love exploring new areas and parks through the eyes of other moms and Jamie does an amazing job making us feel like we’re right in the middle of the adventure with her. If you’re ever in the Upstate New York area, you must check out Taughannock Falls State Park.
Taughannock Falls State Park, Ithaca, NY
As a local to Ithaca, NY and homeschooling mother to three children, our family is blessed to be surrounded by a plethora of waterfalls to explore with children. “Ithaca is Gorges,” our community slogan, was created for a reason! We are surrounded by over 150 waterfalls varying in size; all within our “10 square miles surrounded by reality.” Our little bubble of Ithaca is also home to the tallest single drop waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains, Taughannock Falls. Plunging 215 feet down rocky cliffs, Taughannock (pronounced TUG-ah-nick) Falls stands 33 feet taller than Niagra Falls! It forms a 400 ft deep gorge through layers of shale, sandstone and limestone, that were once the bed of ancient sea. It’s an amazing place to get outdoors and teach children about the wonders of geology.
While there are many waterfalls to choose from in our area, (lucky us) I choose to highlight Taughannock because it is very easily accessible for families with babies, toddlers and small children; even during the winter! The .75 mile hike from the car to the waterfall is flat, well maintained and full of benches to plop on and dish out snacks should your child get whiny and need a break. Plus, the view at the end is well worth every step!
The past few weeks has brought Upstate, NY a variety of weather – from mild 72 degrees days followed immediately by days dropping 6+ inches of snow. The weather is always in flux and unpredictable. The waterfalls undergo many rapid transformations from frozen solid, to raging rivers the next day. We decided to set out with the children after a snowfall to see what we would find. No matter when you go, it’s always an adventure!
What we packed
- Waterproof snow boots (for those wet slushy walkways)
- Good quality under layers (to keep the sweat whisked away while hiking)
- Hats, gloves, snow jackets and snow pants
- Snacks!!! (our keto family likes cheese sticks, Epic bars, celery sticks and walnuts)
- Our full Kleen Kanteen water bottles
- A sled to pull our backpack behind us, (or a whiny toddler on the way back)
- And of course, my CAMERA – to capture all the magic!
Hiking with kids
My 8 and 12 year-old children run most of the trail. However, my 5 year-old tends to lag behind and request piggy back rides on and off when the snow is above his ankles.
It’s a short distance, but the .75 mile walk to the falls can feel like a LONG time with a whiny 5 year-old. I definitely need some distracting tricks up my sleeve. To make the hike to the falls more enjoyable for the kids, I usually make it a point to ask my littles to “find their special walking stick.” They each choose one that will lead them on their special journey. This keeps their minds occupied on finding something sacred and off of the distance.
Other fun things to do is play “I spy” along the walk. “I spy with my little eye, A GIANT BOULDER OF ICE!” “I spy with my little eye, A YELLOW FALLING LEAF!” Take turns and vary the difficulty for the ages of the kids involved. I also find singing songs to be helpful for hiking with smaller children. “Off we go, through the woods, hand in hand, through the land, what we’ve got we’ll share together, and we’ll never be parted, no not ever.” This is a favorite of our family, which can get our arms swinging and feet happily skipping along.
There are also times when we do hikes with our homeschooling group. One of our favorite things to entertain the kids on these hikes is have a pre-made scavenger hunt paper ready for them. These come in handy to keep everyone happily engaged and learning about what lives in the forest.
Hikes and trails
The wooded trail at Taughannock Falls State Park runs along a river which you can walk right down into and explore, if you so choose. There are paths that lead you down into the old sea bed that isn’t covered by the river. Here, you can then see the divets created by the flowing water that were formed centuries ago. In the summer, this is the perfect place to cool off and splash around and find fossils. In the winter, it’s a different story. Its slippery, freezing cold, and not ideally safe to walk on. However, our adventurous family likes to “ice skate” our way across the terrain and crack the ice with our boots. We can spend a good half hour just walking along this part of the river bed.
Moving onward up the trail there are notices to look out for “falling ice.” Take notice and pay attention to the warnings. Right next to this sign, rests a ice boulder taller than my son, which they happily chiseled away at while I was playing catch up with my camera in hand. When you look up you towards the sky, you can see 400 feet tall cliffs with gigantic ice chunks frozen to them. It makes me feel so small in this big frozen world.
Waterfalls
On this particular adventure, the sound of the Taughannock waterfall freshly melted and raging was keeping my children excited. With every corner we turned, we came closer to seeing the powerful giant! Once we made it to the waterfall, we were sprayed with a fine frozen mist from the water sprites. When you’re there, you feel as though you’re in nature’s’ cathedral. It’s as if all of the falls’ magic pours straight into your spirit. I truly believe it’s something everyone should experience with their children! I wasn’t able to get my camera all the way up as close as the children were standing without risking a complete shower, given the raging fall, but I did manage to capture a few images.
Our family’s discussion on the way to the falls was wondering what the trees would say if they could talk. On the way back, it only made sense that the kids would try and make the trees actually express themselves. My older children took it upon themselves to construct “tree people” with snow balls that they would throw and plaster to the trees to create snow face. Onlookers enjoyed the faces as they walked past, and the children were certainly wildly entertained making themselves crack up at the faces they were making.
Post-hike sledding
When we made it to the car, we decided that the adventure was not over! Our sled (which we accidentally left in the trunk of our car with the snacks due to a certain 5 year-old’s meltdown about his snow boots not fitting right) needed SOME purpose for this trip! A short drive up the hill from the park is a place known to the locals as “Rice Hill” and known to children as a sledding paradise!
Rice Hill is an enormous hill which overlooks Cayuga Lake. Parents love the wood-stove heated cabin located at the top of the hill where we can sit inside, feed the little ones snacks, and warm up frozen fingers and toes while the older children race down the hill together. As if this place was not idyllic enough already, there are also two frozen ice ponds complete with hockey nets, just in case you and your kids have ice skates and a puck in the car! The water wasn’t frozen enough for us to pull this off this trip, but there is always another day for another adventure!
Links & local suggestions
While you’re here, I want to share a few favorite links and local gems to help with your adventure. I’m in no way sponsored by or affiliated with any of these places. They’re just my personal go to’s and I hope you’ll love them as much as I do.
- HIKING MUSIC: If you don’t like kid songs to sing while hiking, here’s an awesome list of hiking and travel songs to sing to your children on hikes.
- GET YOUR GEAR: If you’re visiting Ithaca with your wee ones and need a one stop place to pick up everything you need for a muddy hike affordably (think underlayers, rain boots, water bottles, reusable snack pouches, snow gear), be sure to visit Mama Goose.
- SNACKS: Located only 8 miles from Taughannock Falls is our local co-op, Green Star Co-op. This is where we always stop on the way to pick up our yummy snacks! Their bulk section is GOLD for on fly healthy food!
Hello, I’m Jamie Love, a homeschooling mama to three growing trees named Banyan, Malaya and Koa. I also own a home-based photography business named Jamie Love Photography. When I’m not busy editing photos, or teaching my children about all of the wonders of the world, you can find me forest bathing in my wooded land, writing music with my pianist partner Remanu Panther, or plucking vegetables and whipping up a stellar salad from my garden.
You can also find me online in the following locations:
Photography website: www.jamielove.photography
Instagram: @jamielovephotography
Facebook: Jamie Love Photography