An Afternoon Amble to Upper and Middle Falls of Ammonoosuc River

In late March 2016, I had about one hour of free-time available which was spent doing an amble along the Ammonoosuc River's Upper and Middle Falls. There are no signposts for either of these waterfalls, but both are located a short distance off the south side of Base Road, which is the roadway that leads to the Mt. Washington Cog Railway at Marshfield Station.

Presented below is a map where the locations of Middle and Upper Falls are highlighted in yellow at the upper right corner.

Middle Falls can be accessed by driving eastward along Base Road for 2.0 miles (as measured from the junction with U.S. 302), and then parking at a widened shoulder (GPS: 44°15'53.05"N, 71°25'16.98"W).  From there, a well-worn (but unmarked) pathway will lead to scenic overlooks of Middle Falls and rapids along the Ammonoosuc River.

The photo below shows one of several viewing perspectives that are available for Middle Falls.

Upper Falls is the more dramatic and more popular of the two waterfalls.  It is accessed by driving eastward along Base Road for 2.3 miles (as measured from the junction with U.S. 302) and then parking at a widened shoulder (GPS: 44°15'59.16"N, 71°24'58.82"W).  From there, the waterfalls are just a few steps away and can be viewed from several vantage points, including a footbridge that crosses over the Ammonoosuc River.

The next photo shows a portion of Upper Falls and the footbridge.  This snapshot was taken just a bit west of the footbridge from a spot that is accessed by following a rough, unmarked pathway along the north bank of the river.  The tops of the surrounding rocks were covered with a light dusting of snow from the night before.

And shown below is a photo taken at the outflow near the bottom of Upper Falls (a portion of which can be seen at middle/left).

It should also be noted that if you take time to snoop around, there are several spots off the Base Road corridor where you can get some nice views of peaks in the Presidential Mountain Range.  An example of one such view is shown in the next photo which was taken during my amble in late March 2016. Peaks seen in this snapshot are (left to right) Mts. Mts. Jefferson, Clay, and Washington.

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