Fairfax Falls

Fairfax Falls is located just below the Goose Pond Road bridge over the Lamoille River, adjacent to Route 104 east of Fairfax. Upon crossing the iron bridge turn left and look for a rough dirt road on the left leading shortly down to the base of the falls. This road is passable ony to high clearance vehicles, so cars should park on the side of Goose Pond Road (being wary to not block traffic).Fairfax Falls is a broad cascading waterfall along the Lamoille River, and in its natural state was one of Vermont's largest and most powerful waterfalls. Our initial measurements of the falls pegged its height at 78 feet, however more recently available one meter resolution lidar data indicates it to be more like 65 feet in height. Given that the hydro system is said to have a head (the difference in elevation between the intakes and the powerhouse) of 88 feet, this seems to be a more accurate figure.
A hydroelectric facility operates at the falls and diverts a substantial volume of the river away from the falls, reducing its stature both visually and in terms of magnitude, but while flowing it remains an impressive sight. The falls will however appear considerably less significant during the low water periods of the summer - though given that the rocks are easy to climb across it makes getting close to the falls easier. When the river's volume exceeds the capacity of the power station, the falls do revert to a more natural state - often in rather impressive fashion - which can be seen with moderate regularity for perhaps half of the year. Exactly how much of the river is diverted away from the falls is not something we've yet been able to determine, but we are currently operating under an assumption that at least half of the average annual volume of the river is siphoned off.The power station at Fairfax Falls dates back to 1907, and was at one time the site of the only underground power station in Vermont (long since abandoned and replaced with the existing power house).