Bash Bish Falls – Taconic State Park – Copake Falls

PLEASE NOTE: All properties should be considered posted and/or private property unless you have specific knowledge otherwise. Access to any waterfall or natural area of any category is a privilege and can be revoked at any time for any reason. Respect landowner rights, speak out should you witness anyone doing otherwise and educate everyone willing to listen about good environmental stewardship and the Leave No Trace (LNT) ideology. Please use our New York State Waterfall Map responsibly. Carry out what you carry in. Don’t leave your garbage and ruin it for everyone.

Dig The Falls would like all site visitors to take the greatest precautions when visiting any location listed herein. Although there are some locations that fall within park systems, there are many more that do not and are considered very dangerous to visit. ALL outdoor locations can be considered dangerous. In visiting this website you are agreeing to release Dig The Falls of any liability from any visitations to any of the locations listed on the website as a whole.

Outdoor recreational activities are, by their very nature, potentially hazardous and contain risk. Locations, trails, and waterfalls listed on this site, and conditions, accuracy, and safety, cannot be guaranteed. You are hiking and visiting these locations at your own risk and at your own will.

This location is in danger of being closed to the public due to misuse. Huge and ridiculous amounts of garbage are being left behind by visitors and crowds of people continue to swim here despite the signs warning them not to. Many people have died here. Bodies get lodged in the rocks and sometimes never come out. Please consider the the health and safety of others as well as yourself, if you decide to swim here and a rescue attempt, or recovery, has to be made.

Cross state lines to catch this waterfall. We dare you!

While Bash Bish Falls is located in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, the parking area for the lower portion of the falls is located in New York State. We like to consider this waterfall a NY beauty all the same. You actually cross the MA/NY border on your hike to the main falls.

This unique waterfall is split at the top by an enormous boulder chiseled out of the surrounding rock by thousands of years of storms and flow from Bash Bish Brook. At over 80′, this waterfall is the tallest in the park. There are several other cascades and smaller falls dotting the stream above and below the Bash Bish Falls, along with several wading pools. Wading is prohibited, but most visitors ignore the park signs and enjoy the pools anyway.

While visiting the park, there are other historical markers of interest that should be visited as well. A campground is located across the road for those who want to enjoy the many miles of hiking trails as well. Leashed pets are welcomed and there is a small pool located at the campground for the kids.

More about Bash Bish Falls can be found in Russell Dunn’s Berkshires Waterfall Guide.

Waterfall Name: Bash Bish Falls
Alternative Name(s): n/a
Phone: …..
Website: …..

Classification: Analysis in Progress
Height: 80′ Total
Crest: TBD
Access/Location Classification: Accessible/May not be verified

Waterway: Bash Bish Brook
Cave/Forest/Preserve Name: Taconic State Park
Clove/Gulch/Valley/Glen: n/a
Gorge/Hollow/Gulf/Gully/Ravine/Chasm: n/a
Lat/Long: 42.11465, -73.493
Altitude (Appx Meters): 327.7

Town: Copake Falls, NY/MT Washington, MA
County: Columbia/Berkshire
NYS Tourism Region: Hudson Valley
NYS Tourism: https://esd.ny.gov/industries/tourism
NYDEC Region: Capital Region/Northern Catskills
NYDEC Contact: https://www.dec.ny.gov/about/558.html

Parking: 42.11772, -73.50841
Parking Notes: …..
Trail head: 42.11756, -73.50832
Trail Notes: .5 mile – crossing into MA. Lower trailhead is located in Copake Falls, NY. Upper trailhead and waterfall are located in Mt. Washington, MA.
We are in the process of collecting trails via www.WikiLoc.com, which we will make available in the near future. “Analysis In Progress”, “TBD”, and empty fields denote information currently being collected.

SOURCES –
Originator: www.naturalhighs.net
Source 2: Steve Young
Source 3: www.bobbieswaterfalls.net
Source 4: …..