Teen drowns in Catskill swimming hole
Fawn’s Leap has become popular with the rise of social media
CATSKILL — Police say a 16-year-old boy drowned Tuesday at Fawn’s Leap, a popular swimming hole at the base of the Catskill Mountains, after the third rescue operation there in just over two weeks.
A group of friends from Brooklyn were swimming at the popular-yet-unsanctioned spot Tuesday afternoon when the boy jumped off a ledge at the top of a waterfall that spilled into the swimming hole with a second friend, also a teenager. Both landed in the water near the base of the falls but became stuck in the hydraulic current, according to the Greene County Sheriff ’s Office.
Other members of the group saw the two struggling and began yelling from the ledges. A third person who was already in the water swam toward the two to help, according to Greene County Sheriff Pete Kusminsky. The third person, who was not part of the Brooklyn group but had been interacting with them while at the spot, was able to assist one of the two friends but could not get to the other.
A Department of Environmental Conservation ranger jumped into the water when they arrived, attempting to locate the submerged teenager with a reach pole.
The boy’s body was recovered by divers from the State Police, the sheriff ’s office and the Athens Fire Department.
Fawn’s Leap is a deep pool on the Kaaterskill Creek, a brook that spills down from the northern Catskill Mountains and winds back and forth over Route 23A, one of the few roads through the mountain range. The creek spills into the swimming hole via a high, picturesque waterfall. Two other sides are abutted by steep cliffs, the highest of which is 30 feet above the surface of the water, according to Kusminsky.
Local adventurers have been swimming at Fawn’s Leap for many years, with
some jumping off the waterfall or the abutting cliffs into the deep pool. With the advent of smartphones and GPS technology, the spot has become more popular with visitors. Youtube videos include directions for how to reach the spot and show dozens of people ringing the cliffs around Fawn’s Leap, with many attempting flips and other acrobatics before they hit the water. Some of the videos have been viewed more than 100,000 times.
Tuesday’s incident was the third rescue operation at Fawn’s Leap in just over two weeks.
On July 26, two rope rescue teams had to lower personnel down one of the cliff faces to rescue an adventurer who was injured on the bank of the swimming hole.
The day before, first responders from a half-dozen agencies spent hours rescuing 16 people from Fawn’s Leap and a second swimming hole a quartermile away after the Kaaterskill Creek rapidly rose, trapping the adventurers between the fastmoving creek and the cliff faces.
Fawn’s Leap is on state land overseen by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which controls large swaths of the Catskill Park.
“Ensuring public safety is DEC’S top priority,” the state agency said in a statement. “With the summer recreation season under way, DEC continues to encourage visitors to state lands and natural places to plan ahead and prepare to recreate safely and responsibly.”