Bartlett Falls

Location: Bristol, VT
Stream  : New Haven River

Saturday, April 22, 1995

The New Haven River flows down from Lincoln, VT and through Bristol, VT. Right where the road to Lincoln meets Rt. 17 the river passes over some interesting rock structures.

There are actually three areas of interest. Right at the junction of the roads mentioned above, the river flows around and about some large boulders creating quite a torrent. A quarter of a mile or so up the road to Lincoln, the river flows over some wide, flat rocks that spread it out into a thin, fast moving sheet.

However, between these two areas, the river goes over a very substaintial falls. The falls probably have a 20 foot drop. Although the drop is not completely abrupt, it is very steep and the river is totally white over the entire falls. At the base of the falls, the river becomes a long, narrow, and deep pool with steep rock ledges on the sides. There were several people there today fishing that pool.

The falls are quite spectacular. The New Haven River is a much larger stream than I usually see going over a waterfall. Most rivers this size have eroded a fairly even channel for themselves. The sound and energy of all that water going over such an abrupt drop is intense. Also, it is possible to climb on the rocks right up close to the falls and get a personal look at the water. Intense.

You can walk to all three of the areas I mentioned above from any one of them. Since the river flows along the road to Lincoln, you just walk down the road. Alas, because the river is so close to the road there is also a fair amount of litter in the area -- at least by Vermont standards.

Pictures

Here is a picture [104k] of the main falls. I had to use a wide angle setting to get it all in so it looks farther away in this picture than it actually was.

Tuesday, February 20, 1996

I visited these falls again to see what they looked like in the winter. They were surprisingly uninteresting! They were almost entirely covered with ice and so you could see very little. They just looked like a large ice covered rock face and not like a waterfall at all. The pool below the falls was also covered with snowy ice and so it looked like a field and not like a river.

Return to the list of waterfalls.