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Bartlett Falls

Vermont > 2. Central Vermont > Vermont's Lonely Rock…
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Description

Bartlett Falls is a great swimming hole with good jumping, sandy bottoms, a mini cavern behind the falls, and there is even some decent rock there! Riverside boulders are nested on both sides of the New Haven River from West Lincoln to Bristol and can be seen all along Lincoln/West River rd. Rock in this area is a classified on the VT Geological Survey Maps as Cheshire Quartzite, which is a light to tannish gray color metamorphic stone. The main attraction to the area is the falls itself, which are some 10-15 feet tall; across from which are some 15+ foot DWS boulders (usually 7+ feet deep water landing) in the jagged slightly overhanging ledges on the road side. Note the base of many of the rocks in this overhanging area are often wet from the splash of jumpers.

Getting There

Bartlett Falls itself is approximately a half mile down river (W/NW) from Eagle Park along Lincoln Rd heading towards Bristol. Parking pull offs are located mainly on the riverside. This place gets pretty crowded from swimmers on hot summer days so make sure to carpool if possible and PARK OFF THE ROAD.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Dan Chillin above the falls. Picture taken atop the overhang with boulders underneath
[Hide Photo] Dan Chillin above the falls. Picture taken atop the overhang with boulders underneath

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Ethan Y
[Hide Comment] Cool to see these posted up! For the record, almost all of these problems were put up at least as far back as Y2K according to some guy I met who was drinking a switchback circa 2015. When I started visiting the area in 2013, the riverside boulders actually had chalk on them. I climbed everything listed here (and then some— I’ll try and add more this fall while in the area) at that time, including Ripple, which was the only boulder in the immediate area that didn’t have obvious signs of having been climbed before.

But this mountain project page is absent of the AMAZING low water soloing provided at the falls. Check/scour your landings, but there are many routes up to 5.13 that have been climbed through the years that feature outstanding position and stone. Oct 17, 2024
Shawn S
Seattle WA
[Hide Comment] Sweet Ethan! Yea someone had a similar comment on the riverside overhang page. The water solos are so fun hope more peeps get to enjoy, perfect way to beat the heat and clean the rock boots in the summer Oct 17, 2024