Taughannock Falls State Park, northwest of Ithaca near Trumansburg, preserves a dramatic landscape where Taughannock Creek enters Cayuga Lake. Its centerpiece is 215-foot Taughannock Falls, which drops through a gorge with cliffs rising to 400 feet. The area was once home to the Cayuga people before their displacement after the American Revolutionary War. In the 19th century the creek powered mills and a gun factory, then the falls became a resort destination served by steamboats, railroads, and hotels. Created in 1925 and later expanded, the park also preserves a notable hanging valley, rare threatened plants, and a long history of recreation and tourism.