Be cautious, keep dogs on leash, follow all posted signs, and avoid active logging areas.
Visitors to High Falls this summer should be mindful of a project underway to improve forest quality and prepare for the future planting of native trees and shrubs.
Beginning in early June and continuing until mid-July, a local forester will remove invasive and undesirable tree species to make way for new plantings! The trees that are cut down will be reused to create a “slash wall” around much of the planting area. The slash wall will be approximately 10 feet high and 20 feet wide, and is designed to keep deer from entering the planting area and eating the approximately 8,000 native trees and shrubs that will be planted.
For their safety, visitors to the site must follow all posted signs and trail closures to avoid entering an active logging zone, and dogs must be kept on-leash. Once the work is completed, some trails will be re-routed and may be re-named, so be sure to pick up an up-to-date map at the kiosk.
The forestry work is part of a series of projects at High Falls that will continue over the next four years. This effort began with the construction of the Levy Lookout last fall, which made it safer and easier for more visitors to view the beautiful waterfall at once. That work continued this spring thanks to a grant from the Land Trust Alliance, which supported the installation of additional seating at the upper portion of the overlook and the creation of native plantings in conjunction with Shanti Nagel of Design Wild. This Project has been funded in part by a grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Program through appropriations from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund (EPF).
