Waterfall inside … a cemetery?

Just a short, downhill walk to a stream called Beer Kill from Route 52 in Ellenville, NY is a massive waterfall that is practically unheard of, Hanging Rock Falls. Yes, you will find it online—that was how I found it—but what few websites you’d likely find were posted only in recent years some as recent as this year. Indeed, a December 2020 post says they’ve “lived here for almost 8 years now and have never heard of or been to this waterfall”. It’s a powerful waterfall formed by massive rocks tiered in a stair-step cascade approximately 100 feet in height that is not much talked about either through intent—the locals might want to keep such gem to themselves—or scorn after the automobile then the airplane diverted New York City vacationers away from Ellenville to other far-flung destinations thus ending Ellenville’s glory days as a vacation hotspot when rail was the only means of long-distance travel on land.

This region east of the Catskills—the Rondout Valley and the nearby Shawangunk Mountains—is riddled with waterfalls and Hanging Rock Falls just 2.5 miles north of the Ellenville village center on Route 52 is just one. Two miles south also on Route 52 is another waterfall, Nevele Falls, sometimes called Buttermilk Falls by locals. The name “Nevele” came from the name of an inn owned by an early Jewish farmer renting out rooms. In 1903, he named his inn “Nevele” after the number of his children, eleven, spelled backwards.

The name “Ellenville” itself has a storied origin. Local lore has it that in the early 1800s the villagers needed to name their village to apply for their own post office. Coming up blank they settled on the name of one of them, Ellen, so Ellenville it was and Ellenville since.

If you’re ever in the area, I strongly suggest visiting these two waterfalls as they are practically by the roadside with Hanging Rock Falls offering a deeper trek into nature with many possible off-trail—with caution of course as the terrain can be steep—attractions and adventures.