Emerson Falls

Take Route 2 west from Saint Johnsbury. A short ways past I-91, look for a right turn onto Emerson Falls Road. Turn right again, following the river downstream. There is a large parking area on your left, and a trail to the falls.The Sleeper River flows through a large flat valley between Dansville and Saint Johnsbury. As the Sleepers River descends to the Passumpsic River, it enters a wooded narrows and drops over a short dam at the crest of a long jagged sloping rock face. The property owner, Emerson Falls Hydro, Inc., allows visitors to access the falls. We've been told that the facility has 47 feet of "head" and the dam is about 3 feet tall, hence the 44 foot height figure.The name Fish Hatchery Falls was in vogue until the hatchery closed in the 1950s, due largely to declining water quality from development upstream.