Tuesday 21 May 2013


BELCHER BROOK FALLS
Martock, Hants County
45N57.097  64W07.803
20T E0410860 N4978197



RIVER: Belcher Brook
CLASS: slide (steep)
SIZE 12', 15'
RATING: average (***)

TRAIL: woods trail
DISTANCE: 800m
HIKING TIME: 1 hour
CONDITIONS: moderate

NS Atlas Page: 57/Y2
NS topo map: 021A16 (Windsor)



DRVING DIRECTIONS: take Exit5 off HWY101, westbound, towards Windsor and Three Mile Plains. Follow this road, HWY14, to its conclusion about 1km along. (Across from the gas station) Turn left onto HWY1 and drive 650m to Three Mile Plains Cross Road. Turn right onto this and drive 850m to its intersection with Windsor Back Road. Turn right again, and drive down Windsor Back Road 2.8km to a dirt road on your left. Pull down this and drive down to the big old trees by the pond. Park here.

TRAIL DESCRIPTION: Follow the road around the small quarry to a fork in the trail about 75m along. Turn left along this trail that runs along the powerlines, and follow it to where it crosses Lebreau Brook, an easy fording. Continue along this old dirt road, trending to the right (up the hill) when you come to the first fork in the trail. (The left fork drops down to the power lines and peters out quickly) 

When you come to the power lines again, as you arrive at the bottom of the hill you just climbed over, continue on a path along the edge of the powerlines to your right. Follow this trail to an inactive slate quarry. Cross in the woods along the high side above the quarry to Belcher Brook, which abuts the workings. 

The first falls have a small 2 foot plunge into a charming slide of about ten feet in height. Approximately 100m upstream the main falls drop over a twisting slide into a number of small cascades. I feel that these falls should be considered "At Risk" due to human intervention in the nearby area. The quarry is excavated below the brook level and a break in the levee between brook and quarry would harm this ecosystem irreparably.

No comments:

Post a Comment