Timed-entry and gates proposed to help crowds at popular Catskill waterfall
The Middle Pool area of Kaaterskill Falls in the Town of Hunter
Town of Hunter ‘formally opposes’ restricting access, virtual public hearing scheduled
In the last ten years, the average total daily traffic on Route 23A in the Town of Hunter has increased by 60-percent. On the weekends, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, pedestrians arrive in droves – up to 3,000 visitors per day! – walking along the steep shoulder of that traffic-filled road, overflowing parking lots and toilet facilities, and going off trail to avoid the crowd, all to catch a glimpse of New York State’s tallest two-tier waterfall, Kaaterskill Falls.
Catskill Park’s Kaaterskill Clove and the Adirondack High Peaks are some of the most highly visited regions in the state, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic sent people upstate and outdoors. The result, though, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), has led to “each location experiencing the compounding effects of traffic and parking congestion, potentially unsafe conditions along busy state highways, crowded trails, summits and other points of interest, and physical degradation of trails and other facilities.”
Observations of visitors walking from South Lake Day Use parking lots to Kaaterskill Falls, August 17, 2024.
To help curb the impact to these natural areas, while still offering safe access to the public, a new Visitor Use Management (VUM) report complied by an advisory group offers several recommendations including an advance reservation system with timed-entry passes for visitors during peak season, complete with gates checking for valid passes at three entry checkpoints throughout the Kaaterskill Clove area. In addition to registering in advance, signage would be installed to notify daytrippers of the new system on the main roads leading to the falls, and cooperation to limit private parking lots would reduce overall crowding at the site, according to the report. Read the full VUM report, here: Link (PDF, opens in a new tab)
But local officials in the Town of Hunter say, “restrictive access is not the right solution.”
“Communities like Hunter rely on responsible visitation tied to these public lands,” a letter from the town to the DEC says. “Restricting access to one of the region’s primary destinations will have real consequences for local businesses, jobs and the broader economy.”
“Such a system will not resolve the underlying challenges, but instead shift and intensify them.”
Officials with the DEC say, “the release of the report does not signify DEC adoption of the recommendations. The reports represent one set of tools and recommendations that DEC will utilize in future land management decision making.”
A virtual public meeting on the Kaaterskill Clove VUM report will take place on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at 6pm. See meeting details below. Comments on the report may also be submitted by email to forestpreserve@dec.ny.gov. Deadline for comments is June 1, 2026.
Kaaterskill Clove Virtual Public Meeting
Date: April 29, 2026, at 6 PM | (UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Registration link: https://meetny-gov.webex.com/weblink/register/r30bd1508967ad40961595ba6683be2a7
Webinar number: 2821 291 5170
Webinar password: welcome1 (93526631 when dialing from a phone or video system)
Join by phone: +1-415-527-5035 United States Toll
Access code: 2821 291 5170
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