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Vermont & New Hampshire Waterfalls - June, 2023

After our daughter Jeannine and her husband David told us about a trip they took to Vermont to visit several waterfalls, we decided to make a similar trip. We did not have a list of the waterfalls they visited, so Ernie did a search for Vermont waterfalls. He planned a trip that would bring us to seven waterfalls, starting in southern Vermont and ending in Stowe. We were unable to find one waterfall (Moretown Falls, Moretown, VT), so we only visited six. Since neither of us wants to drive after dark, we planned to stay overnight in Stowe and drive back during the day the next day. Thinking we did not want to just drive directly back, we changed our plans and stayed overnight in Bethleham, NH. The next day we stopped at the Basin Cascades and Flume Gorge on our way back.

Vermont

Buttermilk Falls - Ludlow, VT

We had a little trouble finding the falls, when the GPS told us we were there no trail was in sight. We drove to the end of the road and followed a trail that continued in the same direction we had been driving. We came upon a group of young people going the other way who were trying to find the falls. We returned to where we parked the car and looking over the edge we saw people at the pool at the bottom of the Upper Falls. Someone told us to use this really steep slippery trail, so we made our way down, took some pictures, and managed to climb back up. Knowing there is also a lower falls we slowly drove along the road when we saw a man in his yard, he told us to go just a little further and there was an entrance to the Okemo State Forest. We found easy trails leading to the Lower Falls and the Middle Falls.

Center Rutland (Mead's) Falls - Rutland, VT

Our GPS took us right to the trailhead for Mead's Falls. There is a short trail that forks, the right fork took us to a view of the falls from below, the left fork took us to a view of the falls from above.

Sutherland Falls - Proctor, VT

Sutherland Falls was easy to find. It is next to a hydro-electric plant. The road is blocked by a gate so we viewed the falls from the road. Then Ernie followed the trail to the canoe launch below the falls and found we could get up close to the pool at the bottom of the falls so we viewed the falls from below.

Moss Glen Falls - Granville, VT

This is the first of two falls we visited with the name Moss Glen. A short boardwalk leads to a short easy trail that ends at a viewing platform for viewing the falls from above. We noticed there were a couple of people near the pool, we went back a little ways and found a trail going down next to the platform, we followed the trail to view the falls from below.

Bartlett Falls - Bristol, VT

We went to where the GPS told us the falls were at. From the road we could see some rapids, but not a waterfall. We followed downstream. We saw a family bathing in a pool in the stream, they told us to go back upstream to the end of the guardrail and there is a trail to the falls. We found the short trail to where we could view the upper falls, the middle falls, and the lower falls

Moss Glen Falls - Stowe, VT

At the second Moss Glen Falls there is about a ¼ mile boardwalk that leads to a steep hill. We had to climb the hill, not really much of a trail, to view the falls.

New Hampshire

The Basin Cascades

The parking for the Basin Cascades is a loop driveway off I-93 near Franconia Notch. The cascades, waterfall, and basin pothole are on the Pemigewasset River. The first spot along the trail is a pool with water cascading over rocks. The trail comes to a bridge where we viewed the main cascades. The river branches at the cascades the main branch flows to the waterfall that drops into the basin. The side branch joins the main branch a little beyond the basin. The trail Follows the side branch. Just before the trail reaches the basin there is a small waterfall on the side branch. The main branch of the river flows over a waterfall into the basin. The Basin is a pot hole in the rocks that is 30ft across and 55ft deep. We noticed a sign for Baby Flume on a side trail, along the trail we saw an example of nature clinging to life where it does not seemed likely to be able to do so. Shortly, the trail came to the Baby Flume.

Flume Gorge

After being sent to the wrong location by our GPS we got verbal directions and arrived at the Flume Gorge. There is a fee to enter the grounds, with an extra fee when tickets are bought on site. The trail leads to a loop with a sign pointing the way to the flume. Just about everyone goes in the direction towards which the sign is pointing. Ernie looked at the map noticing that the flume is the first thing we would come to if we went in that direction, so he suggested we go in the other direction and come to the flume (the main attraction) last. Going that way was less crowded than the other way. The first sight we came to was Glacial Boulder (Great Boulder according to the map). This is where the loop begins, so there were a lot of people there taking pictures standing in front of the boulder, one of the people offered to take our picture. Next was Wolf Den, a jumble of rocks that can be climbed through. Since we were going in the opposite direction than most visitors do, we came to the exit first. We looked into the den and decided we were not interested in going through it so we just by-passed the entrance when we got to it. Just beyond Wolf Den is The Pool, a pool at the bottom of a nice waterfall. Crossing over the waterfall is the Sentinel Pine Covered Bridge. The base of the bridge is a sentinel pine that stood 175 feet tall with a circumference of 16 feet until a hurricane uprooted it. Liberty Gorge is a beautiful cascading moutain stream with some small waterfalls. Avalanche Falls is at the top of Flume Gorge. There is a viewing area near the top, and a stairway down the side from which the falls can be viewed. At the bottom of the stairway we were able to get one last look at the falls. We walked along the gorge enjoying the views of the gorge. Near the end of the walkway someone offered to take our picture.