Roaring Brook Falls, Cheshire

Listen to the Falls

 Standing on the bare ground, -- my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space…I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God… It takes me by surprise…

Nature,  Ralph Waldo Emerson

That would be me, if I were able to stand at the bottom of the gorge, the ultimate landfall of Roaring Brook Falls. I would be looking up 80 feet to its source at the trap rock ridge. Alas, I will never stand there. The descent to the bottom is unthinkably steep for me, so I must rely on my imagination. And the newly blazed Orange Trail. 

The Orange Trail will take me as close as I will ever get to the breathtaking drop, but not without a fight.

At the base, a smooth broad path might have me thinking that it is only a pleasant excursion to the top. Nothing could be further from the truth. The trail becomes steep almost immediately and soon I am struggling for breath, yearning for level ground, or at least a resting point.

My strategy, however, is to never descend and never to stop.  I fear that if I do either, I will lose the momentum that carries me.  Painful though the ascent may be, as soon as I begin to feel as if my calves will disintegrate, the trail will level for its southward switchback.

At once I am astounded to discover that I miss the breakneck climb. True, it was going to kill me.  Yet every single cell in my body feels as if it is alive and ready for action. My lungs, especially, have taken deep draughts of the matchless forest air, courtesy of the transpiration of the trees and plant life.

As I continue, soon I reach the diversion from the trail that leads to the outlook, providing the best view I will have of the greater falls.  Happily I find a bench where I may sit to watch the superb view afforded by the snowmelt of our endless winter.

As I continue my trek to the top I look above to enjoy the cathedral of the magnificent hardwoods that make up the forest—an upward majesty of maples, beeches, and oaks, until I reach my ultimate destination: the upper falls.

The gentler cascades offer wide and shallow pools and are easily approached.  Any fit child over seven will scamper up the trail with complete delight, unaware of gravity.   And then, having found the upper falls, the child will find that there is no playground on earth that can match the natural water park of a middle-sized falls with it’s gushes of water, shallow pools, and zig-zag stepping stones.

I take a good rest at the top, perhaps stroll along the level Blue Trail above the falls.  This section is the Quinnipiac,  and if you take it south and east you will find yourself at Sleeping Giant State Park.   At the top of Roaring Brook, you are on the oldest of the historic Connecticut Blue Trails.  A rest is a very good idea, because so much of the trip down is harder than the trip up. One uses muscles that one never knew existed, and the footing can be treacherous.

The entire circuit, to the top and down again, can take less than an hour.  You will not regret a single minute.

I hope that many of you will have a chance to view the falls, as with the snowmelt and after this rainfall its torrent will be spectacular.  A few dry days would be helpful for reducing mud on the trail.  If you begin your hike from the bottom of the Orange Trail at Roaring Brook Court, please be considerate of the neighbors, and their private property, as if it were your own home bordering the falls.  And I know many of you have climbed the falls.  Maybe you have stories of your own, know the history of the falls, or have advice for enjoying the hike?