We’ve been home from Missouri for a week now and it’s hot here in Massachusetts. Since we paid for a membership to the Trustees, I thought it might be nice to see what other properties there are to explore. I was hoping there would be more mansions or buildings of historical interest. I was a little disappointed to find fields and ponds and woods and other nature spots as the majority of their offerings. I’m a sucker for a beautiful waterfall though so we decided we would drive to central Mass. and visit three waterfalls somewhat close to each other.

The drive to the first falls took about an hour and after wandering through a lot of back roads, we finally saw a little sign indicating the Trustees Reservation and the name of the falls. We were glad we wore comfortable shoes, as this falls required a short hike through the woods and over lots and lots of riverbed rocks. It was beautiful  and the cool breeze through the trees kept us from overheating.  When we lived in Oregon, we visited Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge, and Silver Falls near Salem. These little falls in MA didn’t quite measure up to those spectacular sites, but they represented that peaceful calm that moving water often brings.

 

The second falls were much more developed than the first, and there were many more people enjoying the view. A nice path led visitors from the road to the bottom of the falls which began shortly after the river crossed under the road.  These falls had the turbulence of some of those Oregon Falls and didn’t instill the calming influence of the first falls. They were terraced though and dropped 30-40 feet from top to bottom.  The dense foliage of the summertime forest really added to the beauty of the landscape.

We were pumped now and eager to view the third set of falls on the map. After driving another twenty minutes or so we arrived at what was clearly the most developed of the areas we’d visited. There were cars in all the parking places, and many were parked along the side of the road in places not marked for cars. Surprisingly, we didn’t see many people, just a family here or there eating their lunch or walking the trail. We found a spot to park and headed on up to the trail. Our spirits sank though as we approached a map of the waterfall trail that indicated our hike we be a little over a mile each way. No wonder we didn’t see anyone in the parking lot, everyone was lost in the woods on one of these never ending trails.  We were dressed for short walks, but this was going to be way beyond what we’d prepared for. We counted our blessings for seeing the other two falls and headed back home. Maybe someday we’ll get back to see these falls when we’re more prepared, orrrrr not.

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller