How to safely enjoy Cornell’s gorges

The two gorges that wend their way through Cornell's Ithaca campus provide natural beauty but pose myriad hazards, from strong currents, unpredictable undertows, underwater rock ledges, steep cliff walls and falling rocks.

Through a safety program that combines education and enforcement, Cornell is working to ensure that these iconic landscapes can be experienced safely.

For the third year in a row, overall violations in the patrolled areas of Cascadilla and Fall Creek remained steady last summer, at around 2.5% of users, down from a peak of above 8% at the start of tracking in 2013 and above 7% in 2020.

Violations include swimming and wading, trespassing past fence lines and unleashed dogs. The number of fishing violations increased from a handful in previous years to 36 in 2025.

Fishing - just like swimming and wading - is not allowed in any of Cornell's natural areas.

"Cornell's gorges are one of the most beautiful and defining features of our campus, but they require respect," said Kate Supron, Gorge Safety Committee co-chair and campus-community liaison for University Relations. "Our priority is ensuring that students, staff and visitors understand both the wonder and the risk so that everyone can enjoy these landscapes safely and responsibly."

In 2012, Cornell established the Nathaniel Rand '12 Memorial Gorge Safety Education Program, named in memory of a student who died in a gorge drowning accident in 2011.

As part of the program, stewards patrol the Fall Creek and Cascadilla gorges from May through September, answering questions, redirecting visitors who aren't following the rules, cleaning up trash, disassembling rock sculptures and dams and clearing the trail.

The program also includes Orientation hikes for new students, educational programming for Orientation leaders and residence advisers, a gorge safety video and a brochure.

The Gorge Safety Committee meets throughout the year to assess the program.

"Since the institution of safety programming, the gorges have become a much safer place, with a tiny fraction of the violations that we began with," said Mark Holton, the Lindseth Director of Cornell Outdoor Education, which oversees the gorge stewards.

The surrounding area offers several places to swim or wade safely, Holton said, including swimming at three nearby state parks and public pools.

Cornell Botanic Gardens manages 30 miles of hiking trails on and off-campus, and Tompkins County has more than 240 miles of trails to explore.

Holton said that while gorge stewards strictly enforce the gorge regulations -

staying on trails, respecting trail closures and prohibiting swimming, wading, fishing or bicycling - the majority of gorge stewards' interactions with people are friendly.

"In addition to safety, there are many other functions that have to do with hospitality and welcoming people to Ithaca," he said. "I've certainly had many of those types of interactions over the years."