About Tannery Falls
Tannery Falls was perhaps the one waterfall in the New England area that was probably the hardest to get to during our visit in 2013. Whether it was by circumstance or it was just the way it was and will be for the foreseeable future, I had my doubts about whether I’d be able to visit this waterfall given the challenges that I had to overcome to get here. Of course with that said, it was still relatively easy to access, but the kicker was that it involved some rough driving (very risky with a low clearance rental car) to access it trailhead, which I’ll get into in the directions.
But given the real off-the-beaten-path feel of the falls, it didn’t surprise me that it felt like I was the only one enjoying this serene reserve as there wasn’t another soul on the trail nor on the roads to get here in the Savoy Mountain State Forest.
In any case, the falls was really a series of small waterfalls on the Ross Brook, which culminated in a thin but attractive 60ft drop into a dark and densely forested area. In an adjacent brook called Parker Brook, there was also the multi-tiered Parker Brook Falls, which was just a few paces from Tannery Falls. Since I visited this waterfall in the Autumn (mostly for the Fall colors), the waterflow was a little on the light side. I’d imagine that during the Spring or early Summer, this waterfall would be far more powerful and take on a much thicker appearance than what you see on this web page. At least the silver lining to the low waterflow was that the trail was pretty easy to navigate as muddiness and fast-moving stream crossings were a non-issue.
From the car park, I followed a narrow but fairly obvious dirt trail flanked by blue blazes (or hashes) that followed some fencing that kept me from getting too close to the Ross Brook and its dropoffs. There were some tiny upper waterfalls en route so the constant sounds of gurgling streams and rushing water helped to break the stillness of the morning air.
The trail then descended down a series of steps eventually reaching its bottom between both Tannery Falls and Parker Brook Falls. I was able to see the latter waterfall after scrambling a short distance off the trail to the right (facing the base of the descent) where there were multiple thin tiers in succession. Given the low light of the morning when I showed up, it was tricky to photograph without a tripod (which I didn’t bring for this hike). But just a few paces going in the other direction, I was able to see some rock cairns stacked up next to some fallen tree that I used as a pseudo-tripod to take photos of the main Tannery Falls itself.
Although I had noticed some trails that led further downstream (even crossing the stream) towards some trees that had some faint blue blazes on them, I couldn’t figure out where they went as all trails eventually disappeared. So I was content to just turn around and go back up to the car park, and the time I spent away from the car was roughly a little under an hour (which included my fruitless meanderings so this hike could consume even less time).
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