Robert H. Treman State Park — Attraction in Town of Ithaca

First there is 2 entrances the main office entrance which has the swimming hole play ground and the 2 trail entrances the one for the gorge and the rim trail. Then there is the OLD MILL ENTRANCE this is great if you want a very very short hike to see the gorge and main water falls. $9 PARKING fee. Ypu can also park at old mill and do the full hiking trail like we did however we wanted the bottom trail it has more of a build up for all the work you put in because the gorge is right from the old mill. So unless you hike the rim first you wouldn't get that excitement. Plus we wanted to check out the main area and the swimming hole. This was a great hike we started at the office entrance lower level. We took the gorge trail to the rim trail. I highly recommend this route. If you plan to hike the whole loop unless you want a extra strenuous workout. Starting at the rim trail is strenuous. The gorge trail has elevation in a lot of spots and steps mostly wood. There is beautiful streams along the way with wonderful green patches of plants in areas. Plenty of water falls on the way to lucifer falls and the old mill. Hike around to the rim trail and go down the trail there is only 2 elevations that are on the more steep end. It also has the bad stairs everyone talks about which is 1 stair case made of stone that is 222 stone steps I personally rather go down those. Think stone castle princess in the top of the tower steps. Shrek was lucky. The rest is just a down elevation to exit back to your car. After the 2 inclines. It's much easier also this is really high up so on this side you do not get to really see anything but trees and those massive steps on the rim trail until the top you have a over look for lucifer falls but on the gorge trail your up and close to the falls that whole trail you are close to the water...

For our next camping we stayed at a state park with 8 waterfalls in it. So it was both a place to stay and our next hike. After a quick step of the tent we set out on the trails. We started with the Gorge Trail as I could see from the map it said steep cliff steps on the Rim Trial. I figured that the gorge trail would be easier but I was wrong which was evident at the top of the first 50 or so steps that start the trail. For beauty and grandure though it was the way to go. It goes up and down along the path acending 725ft and decending 311ft with markers every ¼ mile. You walk along wooded trails, earthen bridges and wood steps up the slopes. We also come across a glen that must be inhabited by elfs or spites as it looks like a well manicured grotto with holly ground cover. Then the landscape starts to change and you feel like you step into the Lord of the Rings. The area is called Lucifer falls (We couldn't find a reason it is called that but we tried googling). There are monolithic stairs and stone bridges around and over the falls that allow you to get close enough to the falls to see individual water droplets. This has to be the best falls on the east coast!! After the finish of the trail up at the old mill we started back along the Rim Trail. From that trail you can see the other side of Lucifer falls as well as from the bottom. The rest of the Rim trail is a more standard wooded hike except for the waterfall at the end which you can go swimming by in the summer (new ideas for trips with the kids!) By the time we got back it was dark and we had hiked another 5.8 miles. Luckily we were already at our campground and were able to hit the showers (Awesome hot water!!!) And have a meat and cheese dinner before passing out...

Two adults visited this state park on a Monday in mid-August and really enjoyed the scenery. We started out in the Old Mill museum and enjoyed the exhibits. Could have used more lighting in the building though. Then walked down the Gorge Trail about 1/4 mile or so to Lucifer Falls. A really nice walk until we got to the head of the falls, then the trail opened up with no guardrails or other barriers and for those of us with height "issues", it was game over. Lots of people here that evidently don't have my height issues, so it's really popular. Had no regrets about the walk to the falls though, just more spectacular NY state scenery. We did use our $9 day use parking fee pass from another park here. But again the men's restroom looked and especially smelled like it hadn't been cleaned in a week, just like my same day experience at Taughannock Falls State Park. Come on NY state parks, use the parking fee to at least clean the restrooms. We returned another day to Treman Park and took the Rim Trail from the lower falls area up to the Lucifer Falls overlook, about 1/3 of a mile or so. Note that the trail was initially very steep with a lot of steps that eventually ended up on a small plateau with the falls overlook. Great view of the falls. The Lower Falls swimming area includes the actual waterfall at one end. Lots of people were enjoying this area. Note though that the water is cold, the sign said 64 degrees F the day we were there. The water definitely felt very cold, but it was a lot of fun being able to swim right up to the bottom of a waterfall. A bathhouse with shower is available...