Quick Hike Details

This is a strenuous 9 mile point-to-point hike with significant steep uphill pitches rated strenuous. Not for newbies.

The hike begins at the lower parking lot for Buttermilk Park, off Route 13 just south of Ithaca. We end at the upper parking area for Treman Park. 

There is a car shuttle before and after the hike.

This adventure takes us past three of the most significant waterfalls in Tompkins County: Buttermilk, Lick Brook, and Lucifer Falls. 

Lick Brook cascades down a steep-sided shale gorge and becomes one of the most beautiful and dramatic waterfalls in the area, 140 feet high. The shale gorge that the creek traverses is the major natural feature of the Sweedler and Thayer Preserves. There are also a fair number of very tall, very old sycamores, hemlocks and oaks at Lick Brook and along the Cayuga Inlet.

The Sweedler, Thayer and Tapan Mitra Preserves are three of 35 preserves and over 27,500 acres of natural area and landscape protected by the Finger Lakes Land Trust in the 11 counties of the finger lakes region.

We will be hiking up (and down) steep terrain. If you struggle on steep uphill pitches, you might want to join us another time.

There is a car shuttle before and after the hike.