Smugglers Falls

The headwaters of the Brewster River have a tiny drainage basin on the eastern flank of Mount Mansfield. This is a small stream that tumbles down a nearly continuous series of cascades off the side of the valley east of Smuggler's Notch. As the stream nears the bottom of the notch itself, it runs across bedrock and produces a lofty cascading waterfall which drops about 285 feet, with a culminating horsetail type fall of about 120 feet at the bottom of the series. The falls are highly seasonal and only flow during or immediately after periods of snow melt, or following heavy precipitation. Previously we had estimated this waterfall to be considerably taller based on rather liberal interpretations of the USGS 7-1/2 inch topographic quadrangles, however more recently available one meter resolution lidar data showed these initial estimates to have been grossly exaggerated, largely due to the fact that it was nearly impossible to determine whether the upper reaches of the stream were in fact bedrock based cascades - and it turns out they aren't. Access to Smugglers Falls is not entirely easy thanks to the thickets of Alder which hem in the valley below the falls, coupled with a series of beaver ponds which dot the floor of the valley below the falls.This waterfall has no official designation, but it seemed most appropriate to name it after the adjacent Notch since it's the most prominent feature in immediate proximity.