Cascadilla Gorge Trail

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Irene Castle and Milton Sills cling to one another in the Cascadilla Gorge in a scene from the Whartons' successful episodic serial Patria (1916) starring internationally-known Irene Castle as Patria Channing.

Cascadilla Gorge, like so many other dramatic natural locations in Ithaca, appealed to filmmaker Theodore Wharton, who envisioned incredible potential backdrops for his films in these beautiful settings.

From the Cornell Botantic Garden, "Cascadilla Creek drops 400 feet from campus to downtown Ithaca, carving through bedrock - shales, siltstone and sandstone - exposing sedimentary rocks that were deposited 400 million years ago. Look for ripple marks on the rock surface, which once was the muddy floor of an ancient ocean.

Cascadilla Gorge was originally preserved and donated to Cornell University by Robert H. Treman (father to Robert E. Treman who was married to film star Irene Castle) in 1909 to support public use, education, and enjoyment."