New England Waterfalls

Monday morning, only the remnants of Hurricane Henri remained over New England and we were going to get waterfalls in several states.  We checked out of the hotel and stopped next door at Cornwall Country Market to get some breakfast.  Then we drove up US-7 to the West Cornwall Covered Bridge.

It's a really pretty covered bridge and it wouldn't be a visit to New England without seeing one.  Heading back on US-7, we pulled over right before the bridge over Pine Swamp Brook.  Just upstream of the bridge was Pine Swamp Brook Falls, though it was covered in downfall.

I climbed up the river right side to find a better view, but had no luck.  There were more cascades upstream that couldn't be seen from the bottom.

So we headed on.

Kent Falls seemed to still be closed due to the hurricane so we stopped at Housatonic Meadows State Park at the Pine Knob Loop Trailhead.  The trail almost immediately came to a split and we went left to head up along Hatch Brook, passing some nice cascades.

The trail was steep at first then leveled off near some moss-covered boulders.

A side path led down to the creek at the base of Hatch Brook Falls.

It's a really scenic waterfall, but there was a lot of downfall cluttering the view.

After some pictures, we headed back to the car.

From here, we drove east to Rhode Island and parked at the Ben Utter Trailhead in Arcadia Management Area.  Ben Utter Trail followed Wood River upstream.  There were several other trails and old roads and the blazing was confusing, but we stayed on the path that stayed closest to the river.  In a little over a mile, we came to Stepstone Falls.

It's a small waterfall with several drops, totaling about 10 feet.

But even though it's small, the waterfall is really scenic and photogenic and we spent some time here taking pictures and enjoying the view.  Another couple was here swimming at the top.

Just upstream of the falls, Falls River Road crosses the river.

From here, we got on a series of old roads to make a loop hiking back to the start.  There was an interesting split rock with a tree growing out of the crack right as we started.

After getting on a gated paved road, we turned left on a gravel road that descended back to the river and then back to the car.

Next, we headed much further north to Maine.  We got of I-95 near Saco and headed to Cascade Falls Park.  The trail descended rather steeply down to Cascade Brook just downstream of Cascade Falls.  I scrambled up the river right side for a good view of the falls that was really flowing in the aftermath of Henri.

The bridge below the falls had washed out and the water level was definitely up so I had to wade to get to the other side.

There were nice views of the falls from this side as well.

Above the falls were some cool cliffs.

After some pictures, I crossed back and we headed back up to the car.

From here, we headed into Portland and checked into the Ramada.  Sandy and I went to the hotel bar for a couple drinks before going to bed.