Eternal Flame Falls — Attraction in Town of Orchard Park

What a wonderful gashole

Friend and I traveled to Niagara Falls for a spontaneous visit. We looked at the stunning views and decided, "it's not enough." We needed more waterfall.

So boom, we googled and found... a flaming waterfall?!! We're in.

A brief drive from Buffalo took us to Eternal Flame Falls. The trail was rated as "moderate" on AllTrails. So we went for it.

The parking lot was not shaded at all and the heat was scorching in the dead of summer, but we went forth.

The trail starts out very easy, shaded by giant trees. Wonderful to see. And then we came to the top of a bunch of stairs. What a surprise. We descended the stairs, and came to the the creek. It was very dried up which was good, because we had to traverse it to get to the flaming gashole behind a waterfall that we so desperately needed to see.

The walk from here was like a scene from Jurassic Park, where they're running for their life through creeks and forests. We weren't running anywhere. Our knees were mad about descending stairs, and preemptively complaining to us about having to go back up them later on.

The creek trail was incredible. Beautiful. Solid boulders. Steep rocky cliffs where you could see the erosion from the water. Really, really cool.

It ended in a grotto where we were surrounded by the rocky, layered cliffs, and boom-there's the gashole. But it wasn't lit. Disappointing us and the handful of strangers there as well. One stranger asked us if we had a lighter, and we did, but we were all collectively too scared to light it. A bunch of weenies, we all were.

But, the area is still beautiful nevertheless, so my friend and I sat for a bit and took the sights in, appreciating mother nature in all her glory. And, we could still see (and even smell) the gashole so, not all was lost.

Right as we started to head back, a group of the strangers came walking back up and one told us "this man is gonna light it!!"

An older gentleman walked up like he owned the place, and with all his bravery that we all so lacked, he climbed up, jammed his torch lighter, clutched in his fist, right into that gashole, and as we all stood very far back like the weenies we all were, we heard the whoosh of the flame lighting up that gashole.

We applauded and thanked the man, as he climbed back down and told us he hadn't done that in fifty years. Incredible.

This flaming gashole behind a trickling waterfall was truly a sight to behold. We all hung around a while, getting pictures and videos with the gashole before heading back.

Friend and I seemed to be the only ones fighting for our lives up the stairs, as everyone else appeared to just breeze right by us with nary a drop of sweat on their brows.

We did it, though, despite our knees crying about it the whole time. Somehow, it felt like less stairs going back up, which makes no sense to us at all. Walking back into the parking lot was like walking from the gates of heaven straight into the pits of hell, but it was very well worth it to see that flaming gashole.

We highly recommend this trip. Bring water, and extra water, a friend to use in pictures for scale, and apparently a torch lighter and a stranger who is less of a...

A moderately difficult walk to a unique experience, but remember your lighter! My wife found this site looking for things to do in the area. The parking lot is large and crushed stone covered. The entrance to the lot is not well posted as the sign is in the lot, so we went by it before we saw the sign. The trail head is gravel covered, flat and easy at the start. There are also some nice benches here to sit, but unfortunately none further down the trail. About 150 feet in you enter a beautiful forest and the trails become dirt, with a few areas of mud. It also becomes a little hilly, but not bad. A third of the way in you come to a steeper hillside that you go down. There are some steps, but the roots of trees are the main staircase. People with hip or knee problems will need to be cautious or reconsider walking further. If you are 60 and work behind a desk, you will get a workout. The trail, which is marked with numbered markers 1 to 25 on the trees, makes a sharp switchback which almost brings you to the creek bottom. I don't remember the number, but the trail also goes ahead straight, so keep you eyes open. At the creek you can sometimes walk along the banks, but you mostly walk in the creek itself. The water was very shallow most places and you should have no problem keeping dry; however, there are spots that are slippery and some log jambs you need to climb over. There is another small, narrow tributary with falls that smells like methane on the right, but keep going down the creek. The creek finally ends at the falls. They do not have rushing water, more of a trickle, but still beautiful. About 10 feet up there is a small spot dug in the falls wall. The whole area smells like methane unless the flame in this cubby is lit. We asked someone in the parking lot if the flame was lit as my wife had a bbq lighter. They said yes, so we left it at the car. Always bring your lighter as the flame goes out after 10 to 15 minutes. We waited for someone with a lighter to come and light it. The spot to light the flame is not easy to reach and involves a few slick steps up the falls. When he lit it, there was a small flash that singed the hair on his fingers. Promethius should beware humans asking for fire. It is a lot of fun and beautiful, but eternal...

Very cool water trickle (not really a waterfall, at least the time of year we visited) with a natural gas leak in a small cave behind the water causing an "eternal flame". Other reviews mention bringing a lighter in case the flame has gone out, it was burning when we got there though. You can even smell the gas leak as you approach. Not sure if there is more water other times of year, but the lack of water did make the hike easier. There is a nice, large dirt parking lot with plenty of parking areas. The porta potty was in really bad shape and wasn't usable unfortunately, it definitely hadn't been serviced recently and was about to overflow... The hike from the parking lot to the creek is very easy and you are shaded by the canopy of the trees. Nice, groomer trail with built in steps for the steep parts. There is a decent amount of downhill going in and uphill going out, but it wasn't tiring in my opinion. Once you get to the creek you are zizzagging back and forth across it and crossing on rocks and in dry spots, the creek bed is basically the trail. I can definitely see that being a problem if there was high water, possibly in the spring time. You do need to be careful on this part because the rocks can be slippery and loose, I wouldn't be surprised if people injured themselves here. Even with all that the hike is still easy and beginner level, just be careful. There were many kids that had done it and were doing it the day we were there, and one member of our group was carrying a baby. Beautiful shale walls up the sides as you walk along the creek and surrounding the waterfall. It's a very unique and cool phenomenon! I definitely recommend it, the hike is short and shaded, so it can be done quickly and at any level of skill! Only takes about an hour round trip, in and back. I believe it was around a half mile from the parking lot to the falls. Perfect thing to do if you're a local and want to get out of the house, or if you're a tourist like us in town to see things like Niagara Falls! Very beautiful...