There wasn’t a whole lot of information offered online, so once again, thoughts started bubbling in my mind. I always feel like places aren’t going to exist! But there it was, a legitimate State Park sign, and a really spacious gravel parking lot. We had reached Wahconah Falls State Park [.5 down Wahconah Falls Road off of North St, Dalton, MA] and I would highly recommend making the trip out to this little gem if you find yourself in the heart of the Berkshire Hills. There is no trailhead, no arrows pointing your way. Another worrisome moment for me, but we made it there, so we just decided to wander and figure it out (something I don’t love doing). From the lot walk downhill into the unknown on the gravel path
and passed a grassy platform with barbecues and picnic tables.
From here I heard it, and I knew we were going the right way. Just down the hill from there was the 40 foot waterfall which dips into a deep pool, just barely a quarter of a mile from the lot.
Well, that wasn’t so hard at all. On our late summer visit it was small, yet elegant falls, keeping shy to the left side of the rock wall. Apparently, the whole shelf can be filled with a roaring fall during spring run off, that would be quite the different sight. I had to get a bit closer, so I ambled and scrambled along the path with loose dirt to an even better view.
Well, that was very pretty, I thought. There aren’t any markers really, so I believed this to be the only feature of the park, as there is no trailhead map or any information online. I did read something about a .5 mile loop, but saw nothing to speak to it. Then faithfully, I noticed some kids trotting down from up the hill. There was an unmarked, but wide and clearly carved out trail that follows the creek.
We hopped right on and the excitement began. Every five minutes of walking that went by, another extraordinary little rapid or set of falls was revealed! The first one was a total mind warp. There were tiers of rocks flipped on their side with water trickling through them, and as you move to the side they just get stranger, playing a trick on the eye. These pictures are taken at a level angle:
Very cool. Back to the trail, and there are little heard paths to get closer to the falls you’ll see along the way. The next double falls were pretty spectacular as well and you can play monkey in the middle with them balancing along a little retaining wall.
There were some other trickles and falls, but the previous three were the most remarkable.
We followed the path along the creek for some way, but not as far as we could have gone because we had other evening plans to get to. Also, even though I didn’t have a trail map, I knew I wasn’t going to get lost because I could just follow the creek right back to where I started. The flora was pretty and I saw a fuzzy caterpillar.
There was a man fly fishing in that first deep pool, so maybe this is a good spot for the anglers as well. With so many rocks around, some people have taken it upon themselves to make crazy cairns on the rocks in the river, also some of those funky smelling kids may have left this behind,
and long ago the rocks seemed to be used for building a structure.
Overall this little hike, which couldn’t have been more than a mile overall, added a whole lot of fun to the day. It is great for me especially, to delve into unplanned adventures because it pushes my boundaries of comfort – and look at what it led to! A fantastic waterfall hike.