Not as high, and lesser known than the more famous Niagara
Escarpment, the Onondaga Escarpment is Western New York's "other
escarpment".
Varying in height from 10 ft. to 245 ft., the Onondaga
Escarpment runs roughly from Pt. Colborne Ontario, to near Albany,
N.Y.
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that results from
erosion or faulting, and separates two relatively level areas of
differing elevations. The exposed surface of the Onondaga
escarpment is limestone, a common sedimentary rock consisting
mostly of calcium carbonate, used as a building stone and in the
manufacture of lime, carbon dioxide, and cement.
In New York State, the Onondaga Escarpment basically parallels
Rt. 5. Some of the higher points in the City of Buffalo include
City Honors High School (at the corner of Masten and Best) and near
the intersection of Bailey and Kensington.
The escarpment is at it's highest points in Erie County through
Clarence and Newstead. You can visit the Clarence Escarpment
Sanctuary, or the Onondaga Escarpment State Unique Area (Newstead),
both of which have geocaches. The escarpment also offers a nice
view of Transit Road, looking Northward towards Lockport from
Sheridan Drive, near the Eastern Hills Mall.
In the Village of Williamsville, within the Town of Amherst,
Ellicott Creek tumbles over the escarpment at a 30 ft. two-stepped
waterfall known as Glen Falls, which is what you will be visiting
as part of this EarthCache. Other notable local Onondaga waterfalls
include Serenity Falls (Buffalo, Scajaquada Creek), Akron Falls
(Akron, Murder Creek), and Indian Falls (Pembroke, Tonawanda
Creek).
Forty seven mile long Ellicott Creek has it's source in the Town
of Bennington in Wyoming County, and empties into Tonawanda Creek,
less than a mile from the latters confluence with the Niagara
River. Ellicott Creek is considered a tributary of Tonawanda
Creek.
Park at N 42 Deg. 57.938' W078 Deg. 44.675'. There is a lot
closer to the falls, but all spots are designated handicap parking
(this EarthCache is 100% handicap accessable). To log a find for
this EarthCache, you need to go to the coordinates at the top of
this page, and upload a photo of someone in your caching party
holding a GPSr with Glen Falls in the background (or your hand
holding a GPSr if you are by your lonesome).
An additional logging requirement for logging Earthcaches was
added in late 2006, you must perform a "task". Your task is to
estimate the width, in feet, of Glen Falls. This would be known as
it's "crest" in waterfall terminology
. A good method of doing this
would be if you were say 6 feet tall, guess how many times
you'd have to lay your body across the top of the falls. Don't
do it, it's illegal
. Email me this answer through the
emai link in my profile:
Logs without an uploaded photo or email will be deleted.
Logs deleted to date: 2
