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Great Falls

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Great Falls is a waterfall in Connecticut, at a modelled elevation of 185 m. Bear Mountain stands 708 m to the northwest, 7.1 miles off. The nearest named place is Town Green, a park 0.7 miles away. Jacob's Ladder Trail (Route 20) passes 24 miles off.

The story

Great Falls is a waterfall formed along the Housatonic River at Falls Village in the town of Canaan amidst Connecticut's Litchfield Hills. Great Falls is the highest volume waterfall in the state, though a great deal of its potential water volume is diverted immediately upstream during most of the year for hydro-electric power generation.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Wikidata Q22058797, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.

What the record says

Height
15 m

How to reach it

Coordinates41.96257, -73.37207

Named places within 25 miles

Parks
  • Town Green: 0.7 mi
  • Trotta Field: 2.6 mi
  • Salisbury Village Open Space: 2.8 mi
  • Civil War Memorial: 3.0 mi
  • Dean's Ravine: 3.2 mi
Peaks
Nature reserves
Museums: 37
Waterfalls: 36
Historic sites: 31
  • Dough Boy: 4.9 mi
  • East Canaan Veterans Monument: 5.7 mi
  • Folly: 7.5 mi
  • Lime Kiln: 8.2 mi
  • Tri-State Marker: 8.4 mi
Attractions: 22
Artworks: 21
  • Newsboy Statue: 15.2 mi
  • Liebowitz Letter: 17.0 mi
  • Naked Lady: 17.2 mi
  • Diving Lady: 20.9 mi
  • Divine Mercy: 22.7 mi
Cliffs: 15
  • Winsted Cliffs: 16.0 mi
  • The Beech: 17.3 mi
  • Space Invaders: 17.3 mi
  • Squirrel Wall: 17.3 mi
  • Cloud Buttress: 17.3 mi
Gardens: 9
  • Community Garden: 17.1 mi
  • Flower Gardens: 18.7 mi
  • Herb Gardens: 18.7 mi
  • Heritage Garden: 18.8 mi
  • Orintas Family Butterfly Garden & Viewing Stand: 18.8 mi
Beaches: 6
Springs: 4
  • Cannavo Spring: 15.5 mi
  • Hermit spring: 17.7 mi
  • Big Spring: 19.0 mi
  • Ever Flowing Spring: 19.3 mi
Picnic sites: 2
  • Guilder Pond Picnic area: 10.5 mi
  • Picnic Area: 12.9 mi
Ghost towns: 2
Covered bridges: 1

Summits around it

The highest named summits within 7.3 miles of Great Falls. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.

SummitBearingElevationDistance
Bear MountainNW 323°708 m7.1 mi
Gridley MountainNW 318°668 m7.2 mi
Bald PeakNW 305°588 m5.9 mi
Bradford MountainENE 65°584 m4.4 mi
Mount RigaWNW 294°534 m5.4 mi
Lion's HeadNW 309°531 m4.9 mi
Stone Man MountainE 95°528 m4.6 mi
Wangum Lake HillE 84°521 m5.9 mi

When to go

Light through the year

DateSunriseGolden hourSunset
March equinox06:5818:2919:06
June solstice05:1919:5120:33
September equinox06:4218:1618:53
December solstice07:1915:4116:26

Local time (America/New_York).

Climate normals

Months averaging 5080 °F: May–Oct.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg °F252735475866716962514030
Precip in3.02.63.43.33.94.84.84.44.74.73.53.8

1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Falls Village, under a mile away.

Months at or above the year’s average flow: Dec–Jan, Mar–May — fullest in Apr, leanest in Aug.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Mean cfs1,1921,1161,9242,3351,3609176415355547009871,220

USGS monthly mean discharge at gauge Housatonic River AT Falls Village, CT, under a mile away — the nearest gauge, which can sit on a different stream.

Where this comes from

Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.

OpenStreetMapWikidata

OpenStreetMap element node/1343710079

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