Texas Falls
Middlebury, VT
A series of cascades and plunge pools carved through a narrow bedrock gorge in the Green Mountain National Forest along the Hancock Branch. The falls drop through sculpted potholes and curved rock formations. A short paved trail and viewing bridge provide accessible vantage points directly above the gorge.
Photography Guide
- Best Time
- morning
- Crowds
- Moderate
- Shot Types
- long-exposuredetailwide
- Best Seasons
- springsummerfall
Author's Comments
The gorge at Texas Falls is small in the way that rewards close looking. The Hancock Branch has spent a long time cutting curves into the bedrock here, and what is left is a sequence of sculpted bowls and twisting channels that read more like something carved than something eroded. The viewing bridge sits directly above the narrowest part of the cut, which is a generous piece of trail design - you are looking down into the gorge rather than across at it, and the geometry of the rock becomes the subject. I prefer this place in early October on an overcast morning. The hardwoods overhead drop color into the water, the flat light keeps the white of the cascades from blowing out, and a polarizer cuts the surface glare enough to see into the plunge pools. A tripod is worth bringing. The exposures that work here are the long ones, where the water goes silk and the rock holds all the detail. Spring runs harder and louder if that is what you are after, and summer brings more visitors. The trail is paved and short. You will not earn this one with effort, which is part of why it is easy to underestimate until you are standing over it.
Gallery
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