the Way of the Turtle

A Visit to Cohoes Falls
Thursday, July 16, 2009

Ordinarily I wouldn't be that interested in stopping at Cohoes Falls in the summer - between the water diverted to the Barge Canal and to a canal for the nearby power plant, there's typically almost no flow over the falls this time of year. But as I was driving to Waterford I caught a glimpse of them and saw a surprising amount of water, so I decided to stop before heading home.

When I parked at the entrance to tiny Cohoes Falls Park, part of the reason for the atypical water flow became clear: work is being done at the power plant and the canal there is dry. The rain we've had over the past few weeks has also probably contributed. In any case, the view from the park was a good one as always, though it certainly would be sweet if they could get rid of the power lines crossing the river (that's not likely to happen, now is it?)

From there I walked up the road to Fallsview Park, a relatively new area open to the public. Last year a bridge was built over the power station canal to allow access to a new park overlooking the falls. The view is fantastic - no power lines in the way! The new park was made possible in part by the efforts of Brookfield Renewable, the company that runs the hydroelectric station, and seems to me to be a great public relations project for them. There's even a staircase that goes down to the edge of the river - unfortunately, that was closed today due to the high water levels.

While I was checking out the new park and the great view of the falls, some fairly dark clouds moved in, making me wonder if I'd be getting soaked on my way back to the car. Fortunately, the rain held off and I had time to pop across the street to check out the remains of an old Erie Canal lock (the canal ran through Cohoes prior to the early 1900's when it was enlarged and aligned with the Mohawk River in Albany area - now Cohoes Falls is bypassed by a flight of locks to the east in Waterford.) I was interested to see that the lock has previously been set up as a small park - there were two funky-looking benches and a partially uncovered paving-stone path on the hillside above it.

After that it was time to head home, so I could get in a shower and something to eat before heading over to teach class.

JMH