There are a number of interesting waterfalls in John Boyd Thatcher State Park east of Albany. The main waterfall of interest is Mine Lot Falls, which has a pretty big drop off a cliff. There happen to be a few other waterfalls in the park that don’t drop off that main cliff, and hence are smaller.

One of the smaller waterfalls is Upper Mine Lot Falls. This is on the same creek as Mine Lot Falls. Upper Mine Lot Falls is 12′ or so tall. This waterfall isn’t visited nearly as frequently as it’s larger brother, and that means you may have a more peaceful time there. I visited the falls in mid-July of 2014 and there was still a good volume of water flowing over the falls, so this waterfall seems to be more year-round in its existence.

Directions:

Honestly, looking at the roads here, it is one of the more complex set of directions, and could widely vary depending on where you’re coming from.  I would suggest typing in the following address into a GPS to find the location of John Boyd Thatcher State Park:

1 Hailes Cave Road
Voorheesville, NY 12186

NY-157 passes through the park.  The parking area for Upper Mine Lot Falls will be on the west side of the road. If you enter the park heading west, the parking area will be on the left (the Paint Mine parking lot).

From the parking lot, there is a short trail to the falls. I crossed the river (over a bridge?) to see the falls from the left side of the creek.

Accessibility: 8/10 (easy/moderate)
Length of Hike: ~0.15 miles round trip
Height: 12′

Upper Mine Lot Falls in July 2014

Where in the World is Upper Mine Lot Falls?