Searching for a majestic waterfall? There's no need to travel very far. Many are right here in Connecticut.
There's gushers like Great Falls along the Housatonic River at Falls Village in the town of Canaan on the western side of the state. In the spring when it's at full power, it's been touted as the "Niagara of New England."
Others, like Sages Ravine in Salisbury, are more pristine, but a little harder to get to. For those willing to trek through the woods a bit, they may have it all to themselves.
Today we take a tour of the best cascading waters the state has to offer.
How did these marvelous feats of nature take shape?
There's new research challenging the longstanding premise that waterfalls only form through external forces, such as techonic and glacial activity. We talk to the lead author of a newly published study on self-forming waterfalls.
We also are joined by a hiking expert to get safety tips ahead of the nation's largest "Trails Day" celebration coming up in Connecticut in early June.
And we want to hear from listeners. What waterfalls do you plan to explore as we head into warmer weather?
Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.
GUESTS:
- Peter Marteka - Hartford Courant reporter who writes its "Nature" column (@petermarteka)
- Joel Scheingross - Assistant Professor of Geosciences at the University of Nevada, Reno, and lead author of a National Science Foundation-funded study undertaken at the California Institute of Technology on self-formed bedrock waterfalls (@jscheingross)
- Clare Cain - Trails Stewardship Director at the Connecticut Forest & Park Association.
Lydia Brown and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.
READING LIST:
Hartford Courant - The Ghostly Magic Of High Rock Grove And Spruce Brook Falls - "Visitors can ... hike along the flat ledges of the brook to the bottom of the falls and a small cave-like depression where the water flows around you."
The New York Times - What Makes A Waterfall? Maybe It Forms Itself - "By building a scaled-down river in their laboratory, a team of researchers demonstrated that waterfalls can sometimes bring themselves into existence without any outside help."
Connecticut Forest & Park Association - Connecticut Trails Day 2019 - "Although we are a state small in size, we are big on outdoor fun!"
