Three roadside waterfalls in the Catskills.

New York State Route 23A, or at least its first 3.5 miles heading west from the hamlet of Palenville in the Catskills, can be another “waterfall highway” like Peekamoose Road. But whereas 6 waterfalls can be seen from Peekamoose Road, only 1 of 3 waterfalls—and highly dramatic at that as the ever loud and strong falls at Bastion located at the bottom of the curve of the horseshoe-shaped road—is visible from NY-23A.

The other two are Fawn\’s Leap—a popular swimming hole for cliff-jumpers concealed by the surrounding cliffs—and the waterfall at Moore’s Bridge that’s nowhere to be seen because it\’s right under the bridge you are driving on.

And if your eyes are quick enough during late fall to winter, you may be able to spot 3 additional hillside waterfalls all along the road through the leafless trees.

I made two trips at Bastion Falls—the second one with Vi—because I lost my camera’s lens hood during my first outing. What I thought was a cheap, easily replaceable plastic part turned out to be nearly a hundred bucks.

So, yes, at a hundred bucks (with tax), going back on a second trip just to look for the lens hood was worth it. And there was hardly any mulling over between the two of us for the time, effort, and expense (mainly gas) of such an operation with unpredictable outcome as whether we find the lens hood or not, it was rationale to visit Nature’s masterpiece—a beautiful waterfall—even one that we had seen many times before.