Get Offline, Get Outside Take #3: Mine Kill Falls. Right Outside Y(our) Front Door

 Mine Kill Falls checks all the boxes. A fabuolous day trip to the bottom of Schoharie County you won't want to miss. And it's on the list.

IYKYK. But if you’ve never been there, Mine Kill Falls, off Route 30 in the southern Schoharie County Town of Gilboa, may be one of our best-kept year-round secrets.

Sometimes, it turns out, what you're looking for is right under your nose. 

A quick, quiet get-away? Check.

Cool shade beside a memorable waterfall? Check.

An invigorating hike through ferns and hemlocks…

A jumping off point if you want to jump on the Long Path (or someplace closer)...

A place to sit, out in nature, by yourself, and catch up on that book you've been carrying around in your car since summer began?

A place on your gotta-check-it-out-sometime list for way too long.

Check. Check. Check. Check. 

Sometimes, it turns out, what you're looking for is Mine Kill Falls.

One of Schoharie County’s best kept secrets for wading, lounging, and hiking this side of the Catskills.

Noon Tuesday? Fewer than a dozen cars in the parking lot (well-marked with a Mine Kill Overlook sign off Route 30, 15 miles south of Middleburgh and five miles north of Gilboa) and just five waders at the foot of falls. 

Still time to get there. Or go back if you’ve been..

If you go:

>>Mine Kill Falls is located on the southeastern edge of Mine Kill State Park (where admission is free, there’s a pool, boat launch, trails, and picnic pavilions.)

>>The falls feature three drops, together plunging 80 feet through a narrow, water-carved slit in the cliffs rising 60 feet from the forest floor below.

>>It’s a quick (but steep) 5-10 minute hike downhill from the parking spot to the plunge pool. You can also hike in from the park. In either case, bring water.

>>If you’d rather not, a series of viewing platforms built out over the ledge above the falls is the perfect place to see all three drops from above. (But not gonna lie, if you’ve got the time, the experience is best from the bottom.)

>>And if you want to go big, the trail is part of the Long Path, 358 miles that starts in New York City and runs to Thatcher State Park near Albany.

Like all of Upstate NY, Mine Kill Falls is beautiful all four seasons.

Spring, summer, fall, and even winter.

If you check it out now, you’ll know you’ll want to go back.