**There is no container here. You must answer the questions and post a picture at the bottom of the falls. The picture should include at least your thumb or side of your head- faces are not required but some part of you must be in the picture.**
In the mid-1800s the falls were the driving industry for Chittenango. Numerous mills and factories were built in the vicinity, the foundations of which can still be found along the creek. In 1866 the Boardman family owned roughly 40 acres around the falls and had no problem with local residents coming by to enjoy the waterfall. Derrick Boardman was approached by a gunpower manufacturer who wanted to buy the land and construct a mill on the gorge. He decided to instead sell the land at a reduced price to Helen Fairchild, a Cazenovia resident, as long as she promised to keep it open to the public. Helen Fairchild formed the Chittenango Falls Park Association, which managed the privately owned park from 1887 through 1922, when she handed over control to the state. Since then the state has increased those original 40 acres to 194. The trip down to the Chittenango Falls gorge could easily be depicted as a damp adventurous journey into a tropical, yet familiar jungle. The massive falls, with its numerous drops, saturates the surrounding air with the waters of Chittenango Creek, which on a hot day can make the climb all the more difficult. The plants and animals that inhabit the limestone walls are adapted to these humid conditions, and ferns and other moisture-loving species dominate the landscape. The park has unique plant and animal life including endangered species. The Ovate Amber Snail lives only under the rocks found in and around the falls. It is found nowhere else in the world. Also the very rare and environment-sensitive Hart's Tongue Fern and the succulent Roseroot can be found growing on the gorge walls. Both species are very rare and are found only in damp, rocky environments like the areas immediately surrounding the falls. It's very important not to remove any plants or animals from this park. It's critical that you do not cross the barriers at the base of the falls to get closer to it. Since the endangered snails live underneath the rocks, simply stepping on the rocks, can crush several of them. This is a cascade waterfall, with several levels.
TO CLAIM THIS CACHE: Start at the above listed coords, and take an elevation reading on your GPS, then hike down into the gorge and take a picture from the foot bridge of yourself and/or your GPS with the falls in the back ground. As you hike down, take elevation readings at the different levels of the falls. Estimate how high the falls are and how high each level of the cascade is based on the elevation readings you have taken. Send me both the elevation readings and your estimate of the height. Please do not post your elevation readings or height estimates in your log, but do attach your photos. Happy trails. Look for fossils in the walls, but do not remove any rocks from walls or from the park. Post a picture of the any you find. Be careful on the climb down to the falls (and back.) Spray from the falls may make the area slippery. There are rest stops on the way for those how need to take their time, but the hike is less than half a mile long. Those caching by i-phone, please download the app before coming to the cache, so you can read the elevation. Accessibility Seasons/Hours: Open from 8:30 am to dark. The gorge trail is closed in winter. Call before going to be sure you will be able to access the cache. Parking: State Park parking lot off of Gorge Rd. Admission: Free for pedestrians, $7 State Park vehicle fee. Free in the off season and not collected most days before 10 am. There is now a machine in the parking lot to collect the fee or use your park pass for access. Check with the park in advance since these fees may change.