Vernooy Kill Falls:  A popular wilderness destination in an area formerly owned by the Lundy Estate, but now part of DEC’s Sundown Wild Forest.  Open Space Institute acquired this 5,400 acre parcel in 2000 and eventually conveyed it to New York State.  The waterfalls itself drops approximately sixty feet in elevation through a series of multiple cascades of small pools and falls.

The Vernooy Kill is a tributary of the Rondout Creek, whose upper section flows with a brownish tint from tannins in the surrounding forest.  The stream derives its name from the Dutch and Cornelius Vernooy.  Kill comes from the Middle Dutch word kille meaning a body of water or creek.  Cornelius Vernooy was a Dutch settler who came to the Rondout Valley in 1644, whose family established a gristmill below the falls in the early 1700s.  The old mill foundation can still be seen downstream of the footbridge, though it was last utilized in 1809.  However, this historic creek is still home to small, dark wild brook trout.

Footbridge, Vernooy Kill Falls, 11x14:

Vernooy Kill Falls, 11x14: