Waterfalls of New Hampshire - Paradise Falls
Woodstock , Grafton County, NH , USA
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The falls from the footbridge |
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Details: |
| This waterfall is located in Lost River Gorge and Boulder Caves. I’m not always crazy about paying to get in to see a waterfall, but this was well worth it. Not that the falls are spectacular, they are actually rather modest, it’s the setting that can’t be beat. It is a simple 20 foot drop into a deep green pool. The attraction here is the gorge. The bedrock in the gorge is a quartz monzonite with very well developed faults and fractures. Huge blocks of bedrock have filled the gorge for the last several thousand years. Lost River flows through, over, under, and around these immense blocks of stone. There are several talus caves that visitors can climb through. Some are fairly easy, others are tight and constrictive. If you are the least bit claustrophobic, stick to the walkways. At one particularly tight squeeze, called Parallel Rocks, I noticed a rather large gentleman descending the ladder into the crack between the slabs. I had just gone through this cave, and one very tight squeeze had to be made in order to get through. I remarked to another visitor who had also just exited this cave that a bookie with a black heart could probably make a lot of cold hard cash at this location. The rather large gentleman came out of the cave with no problems. His kids were delighted, and he had a broad grin on his face. You’ll have to fight the crowds on a nice day, and you’ll have to pay admission ($11.00 in the 2005 season, $7.00 for children), but it’s a neat way to spend an hour and a half, your kids will find it completely cool, and it’s not the type of geological feature you’ll commonly encounter. For all my waterfalling travels, I’ve come across nothing like this, not even close. |
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Geology and Bedrock Structure: |
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History: |
| The falls were discovered in 1852 when brothers Royal and Lyman Jackman were fishing. Lyman slipped through a hole and fell 15 feet into a pool of water in what is today known as Shadow Cave. The brothers started guiding people to the boulder caves. |
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Photography Notes: |
| This is one of the easiest falls to shoot. The view is straightforward, there are only a few possible compositions. You’ll need your tripod, polarizer and warming filter. I’d also suggest getting there early as it’s a bit more problematic to shoot the falls when you’re on a footbridge with heavy pedestrian traffic. If you get there early, late, or on a weekday off season, you’ll have an easier time of it. |
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Directions: |
| The Lost River Gorge is located on Route 112 in Woodstock, about 3/10 of a mile east of height of land in Kinsman Notch. |
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Waterfalls of New Hampshire | whitemtnguy December 14, 2009
1 Comment to “Waterfalls of New Hampshire - Paradise Falls”
uberVU - social comments — February 24, 2010 @ 11:24 am
