Campbell Falls

From Route 57 in the town of New Marlborough, take the Marlborough-Southfield Road heading south. Bear left onto Norfolk Road after about a mile and a half and follow it for 4.4 miles to Campbell Falls Road and turn right (Campbell Falls Road is found about 100 feet north of the MA-CT border). Follow Campbell Falls Road for just under half of a mile to the parking area on the left side of the road, shortly before crossing the Whiting River. The trail is marked by white blazes and leads down to the base of the falls in about a fifth of a mile.Campbell Falls is one of the more powerful waterfalls found in Massachusetts, but just barely. The Whiting River drops over a two-stepped fall, first in a veiling horsetail which begins wide and constricts as it pounds 41 feet into a narrow recess, then sliding down a rugged slopped bench for another 7 feet to a shady glen below. The base of the falls is only about 250 feet north of the border between Massachusetts and Connecticut, and in driving to the falls one actually crosses the border several times and even parks more or less right on the state line when accessing the trail to the base of the falls. The primary source of the Whiting River is from four modest lakes and several large swamps which surround them. While the ground is absorbent enough to allow the river to flow all year long, during the summer months the volume of water descending the falls is greatly reduced. Like many watercourses in New England, the lakes and swamps leech a significant amount of tanic acid into the river, which stains the water a rusty brown color for the majority of the year.