On June 11, 2011, looking for a brief outdoor excursion to fill an overcast weekend afternoon, I got into a NJT Main Line train at Hoboken Terminal and undertook the 30min train ride to Paterson, NJ, where I walked for 15-20 minutes to reach the Great Falls State Park and see the Great Falls of the Passaic River. My expectations were low, but I was very pleasantly surprised on seeing this unassuming miniature Niagara in practically my own backyard (and which I had been postponing visiting for more than a year). This waterfall is sadly overlooked and not very widely known even in the NYC area despite its easy accessibility and the fact that it is supposed to have the second highest water volume of all waterfalls on the East Coast. One drawback is that there isn't much of a "park" around the waterfall, but definitely worth at least one visit (or maybe even more...I certainly plan to come back sometime when it is frozen over).
Here are some photos I took of the falls that day:
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| From the overbridge |
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| Close-up of far end with a telephoto lens |
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| View of the falls in Shutter Priority mode with a slow shutter speed |
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| Dizzying telescoping effect |
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| From a distance |
