VT - Hamilton Falls Trail

Hamilton Falls is located in Jamaica State Park - one of Vermont's State Parks along the VT100.

It's a spectacular tiered waterfall with a jaw- dropping 125-foot drop. The out and back trail (roughly 10km) starts as an easy trail on a disused railtrack but went up quite steeply after 2 miles on a path with rocks and roots and lots of water due to the downpours the day before.

The water source for the Falls is Cobb Brook which literally slices its way sideways through deeply cut gorge walls before landing at the bottom.

It was a great hike and scenery. Beautiful scenery and both Hamilton Falls and the West River were roaringly loud.

Can't do without some little titbits
👆 The area around Jamaica State Park was once an important hunting and fishing area along a major transportation route for the Sokoki Abenaki people, who travelled by canoe between the Connecticut River and Lake Champlain.
👆And then there’s the site of The Salmon Hole Massacre. In 1748, the site was one of several areas where skirmishes between British soldiers and Frenchmen and American Indians took place.
While relaxing near the river, 80 British soldiers on a scouting trip from Fort Dummer were ambushed by a small band of French men and Native Americans. Six of the soldiers were killed in what became known as the Salmon Hole Massacre.
👆The trail along West River was once a precarious railroad between Londonderry and Brattleboro.
The railroad was built with cheap, narrow-gauge track to save money, and it quickly became known as 36 miles of trouble for many reasons.
The wood-burning locomotives were not powerful enough to pull the cars up the narrow tracks. Passengers would often get out and walk along the tracks because it was faster than riding. Construction and maintenance problems, along with heavy snow and constant flooding meant that the trains were never on time, and wrecks were common. It got abandoned in 1927

And yes, the trail went through a shady area with lots of fertile soil for mushrooms. So many different ones and not one I recognised. Need some lessons from Kinsey, our guide in Yellowstone 😂Read more