With a population of just over 32,000, in Upstate's Finger Lakes region on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, a 3½-hour drive from capital Albany and a bit over four hours from New York City, Ithaca is a prominent college town but also a a “gorges” city. I say that because it's surrounded by rocky gorges, many of them with waterfalls - more than 150 within a ten-mile radius. Within the city limits themselves, a one-third mile hike uphill – the Cascadilla Gorge Trail -- is exhilarating not only because of the trek itself, but for the vastness and variety of six freely flowing cascades allong the way.

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