Eternal Flame Falls

So yeah, if you’ve ever wanted to see a pocket of natural gas spring that can be ignited to create a flame behind a waterfall, you’ll want to take the short hike back to the Eternal Flame Falls located inside Chestnut Ridge Park in Orchard Park, New York.
The flame is actually housed in a small grotto just below half way up the waterfall. Natural gas is emitted in this grotto and actually creates a small flame! It’s the neatest thing and a great opportunity for photographers to take some unusual looking photos. The hike is short and not too strenuous. I would bring water, just in case, and follow the trail which is clearly marked. Once you get down to the shale creek you can pretty much walk inside the creek. Wear shoes that you don’t mind getting wet, especially if you want to get right up to the waterfall. Be careful not to slip on the shale.
No matter the time of year, the eternal flame shins bright. I remember when I was younger my dad made my brother and I extinguish the flame and relight it. I’m a bit nervous about the fact we extinguished an «eternal» flame. Oh well, the point is the flame can be re-​lit :) Take the hike, you won’t be disappointed!

I love this park. I especially like that this beautiful treasure is well taken care of. Its a long but thrilling hike. Just make sure you bring a lighter. The «eternal flame» likes to blow out

Highly recommended! 1^st off, this isn’t actually in the park itself, so don’t go into the park entrance. its farther down the road, past the main entrance. If you put Eternal Flame hiking Trail into you GPS it will get you to the actually trail park. You can’t miss the parking area on the side of the road, has a white fence around it… there is also a sign. It will be a kinda big rock parking lot and you will see the trail information. There are even paper maps. The trail itself is very clearly marked with number flamed plates on the trees and caution signs. Once you get down to the creek bed, it a little less marked though. Just keep walking down the creek bed, there are still tree markings. You will get to a bunch of falling trees with a caution sign hop over those trees and in about 50 steps you will be at this magical sight. It is pretty peaceful and the water isn’t flowing heavy so you can get up right to the flame and see them. I would hike more in the morning since it seems less people were out around then. It’s not a long hike and parts of it were filled with tree roots but the path is easy to follow. on my walks I saw elderly people and people with dogs so seems to be pretty easy to hike for all.

Taking a journey to the «eternal flame» often culminates in severe disappointment. You set off at the beginning of the day super psyched that you’re going to embark on this great hike through a beautiful landscape, battling ogres and wizards along the way, force a showdown with Gannon, defeat him, seize the Triforce of Power, rescue Princess Zelda and ultimately restore order to the land of Hyrule…
…Ok, maybe I let my imagination sometimes get the best of me. But the truth is you walk down and the flame is often not lit or poorly lit, and you, being the idiot that you are, forgot to bring a lighter to re-​ignite it…
…But not this Father’s Day! It was a great day for a walk in the woods and the flame was burning brightly! The trail was a little muddy, but it didn’t cause a single misstep…
…And Hyrule enjoyed a respite of peace and prosperity thanks to valiant actions of the noble hero (me).

How many people will ever be able to say they’ve seen a natural waterfall with a friggin’ flame burning from behind the water veil of the falls?
Eternal Flame Falls is located inside Chestnut Ridge Park along Shale Creek. You will start your journey to the falls at a large gravel parking lot surrounded by a white fence at the southern end of the park. The gravel parking lot is directly off Chestnut Ridge Road and NOT inside the park.
The day we arrived a news crew was there taking pictures because of an incident a few days prior. Evidentially a 20 year old hiker had to be airlifted from the trail after falling 20 feet from the top of the Eternal Flame waterfall.
It goes without saying that you must be careful when hiking, but you should be particularly careful when hiking this trail. It is not a very long hike and fairly easy, but FULL of obstacles and mud, so don’t wear shoes you like! The first half of the trail is fairly flat as you pass through lots of tall evergreen trees, but then the trail begins to make it’s descent to the falls. Once you reach the creek bed you will bounce back and forth, crossing the creek several times using only stones or downed trees. The creek is not very deep so you will probably not get wet feet unless you aren’t paying attention to where you step.
Along the trail you will come to a small waterfall just a few hundred feet from the Eternal Flame, which will be just around the corner. Getting a picture at the falls can be tricky, but the jagged stones leading up to the flame were not at all slippery (even though they were wet from the falls). You can definitely smell the natural gas in the air as there are several fissures in the stones that release the underground gases. However, the Eternal Flame is the best protected from both wind and water of all the surrounding gas seepages. I read that one of the seepages is located in the pool of water directly below the falls and will look like bubbles rising from the water.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The flame itself is nothing spectacular, not even as large as a campfire or torch. But just the fact than a natural wonder like this even exists makes it worthy of visiting if you happen to be in the Buffalo or Niagara Falls area. Oh, and if the flame is out, it can easily be reignited with a lighter (or so I have read). Enjoy!
SIDENOTE — My youngest son, whom does not share the family enthusiasm for hiking, was the lead hiker today. He simply could not wait to see if there was really a flame below a waterfall. So if you are a parent of a child like mine, you may find this waterfall has magical powers to motivate nearly any kid to hike!