Cascadilla Gorge runs from the Ithaca Commons to Cornell University's Arts Quad: a 400-foot climb through exposed Devonian shale, past six waterfalls, on stone staircases built by Cornell in the 1920s. The trail is a geological classroom in motion: each shale layer tells a different chapter of the 380-million-year Devonian story, and the same geology extended horizontally is what makes the Cayuga wine trail possible. Free and open year-round. Trailhead on Cascadilla Street, five minutes from the Commons. Upper exit opens onto the Cornell campus.















