Marshfield Falls

Take US Route 2 to the town of Marshfield, then turn south onto School Street. After a quarter mile, the road forks and becomes Upper Depot Road and Lower Depot Road. Both of these roads cross below parts of Marshfield Falls in about another tenth of a mile, with the better views being afforded from Lower Depot Road.Marshfield Falls is a series of sliding cascades along Marshfield Brook which drop a total of about 115 feet down a long sloping exposure of bedrock along the side of the Winooski River valley. The falls are bisected by two different concrete bridges, both making the separate parts of the falls easy to view, and also effectively ruining the view of the most scenic part of the falls. From the upper bridge, the falls zigzag down a narrow tree-lined gully, sliding over a lower angle portion of the falls. Only the lower half of this part of the falls is clearly visible due to the surrounding trees, and getting closer is not possible due to private property on either side of the stream. From the lower bridge, the most scenic part of the falls is visible, a broad veiling cascade which slides down a convex ledge and spreads out to nearly three times its width above. Lidar data suggests there are additional parts of the falls both upstream and down from the visible portions which can be seen from the bridges, however in both cases private property will prevent closer inspection of the creek to determine how substantial any other parts of the falls may be. Marshfield Brook has a drainage area that covers approximately 7.5 square miles, and includes three modest sized ponds and extensive areas of marsh and wetlands. The falls will typically have a fairly decent flow, however during periods of extended drought the stream flow will be reduced considerably. During the spring freshet, expect to see water covering the entire expanse of the bedrock over which the falls cascade.