Kaaterskill Falls has been the site of several deaths and injuries over the years.
A hiker died Friday from injuries sustained in a fall at Kaaterskill Falls in New York.
According to New York Department of Environmental Conservation officials, forest rangers and local emergency crews received a report of an injured hiker in the Kaaterskill Wild Forest at 6:45 p.m. on Friday, June 20.
Jack Wersching, 70, of Park Ridge, Illinois, was reportedly hiking on the Kaaterskill Falls Access Trail when he fell from a rock ledge onto stone steps below.
Rangers found Wersching had sustained serious fall-related injuries.
Rescue crews provided medical care at the scene, moved the hiker to the trailhead, and attempted to stabilize him so he could be flown via helicopter to a hospital.
Officials said Wersching succumbed to his severe injuries and was declared deceased at the trailhead before he could be transported.
With its two-tiered waterfall, rising over 260 feet, Kaaterskill Falls is one of the most iconic destinations in the Hudson Valley.
The popularity of the falls and the area’s steep, rocky terrain have contributed to it being the site of several accidents over the years.
In 2016, a hiker fell 100 feet to her death near Kaaterskill Falls, and just a month later another hiker fell 50 feet to his death at the falls.
A project completed in 2017 added $800,000 in safety and accessibility improvements at the falls, which included a 200-foot cable hand rail on the trail leading to the middle pool of the falls to improve hiker safety, enhancements to the Kaaterskill Falls trail, which also leads down to the middle pool, and the rehabilitated one-half-mile section of trail leading to the Kaaterskill trail system.
