Location: Northeastern Chautauqua County, Village of Forestville.

     Park along Route 39 (Main Street) near the bridge over Walnut Creek on the west side of the village between Chestnut and Walnut Streets. Walk westwards along Route 39 to Walnut Street and turn right (north). In roughly 350 feet look to your right (southeast) for a view of Walnut Creek Falls which is about 250 feet away.

     Walnut Falls has a crest that is 67 feet wide and has a height of 20 feet. It faces to the north and is a complex falls consisting of a near vertical center section with a steep cascade on the eastern side and a gradually sloping western side.

     If you wish to view the falls from the creek bank permission must be obtained from the nearby homeowner.

     In 1808 Jehiel Moore, a native of Connecticut, built a brush road from Erie Road to the falls. Here, below the falls, he built the first saw mill in Forestville. The next year he moved his family in and started building the first grist mill, finishing it in the spring of the following year.

     Walnut Creek got its name from a extremely large Black Walnut tree that once stood near the creek. It was 9 feet in diameter and the lowest limb was 70 feet from the ground. It was blown down during a storm in 1822. A 12 foot long section of the trunk was hollowed out leaving a shell about 4 inches thick. It is stated that 56 people could fit into it at one time. It was taken to New York City for exhibition for a while and then to London, England in 1828. While on exhibition in a museum there it was destroyed by fire.

     The photo below was taken on Jan. 19, 2008. The large pancake shaped disk of ice is known as an ice whirl. Roughly 23 feet across the disk slowly rotated counter clockwise because of the surface currents in the plunge pool. It took 87 seconds for the disk to make one revolution. This is the largest ice whirl that I have seen.

For a MapQuest map of the area click here.

Copyright © 2007 by Scott A. Ensminger.
This information may not be reproduced without written permission.

The information on this web site does not give anyone the right to trespass on private property.
You must obtain permission from the landowner to enter private property.
Recreation on private property is a privilege, NOT A RIGHT.

---

    You can send me e-mail at:falzguy@verizon.net

---

Return to Waterfalls You Can Visit In Chautauqua County

Return to Waterfall Listing By County

Return to Home Page of WNYWS