The Basin-Cascades Trail

Altitude gain: 600 feet to Rocky Glen Falls (altitude 2000 feet).

Difficulty: EASY to Kinsman Falls; MODERATE thereafter.

If there were a delight meter for measuring the splendor of waterfalls, its reading for the Basin would be surprisingly low, considering the spot's great popularity. This large pothole pool set in a riverbed sculpture of polished Conway granite is a fascinating natural feature, to be sure, but not much of a waterfall. Most visitors gaze at the swirling currents for a few minutes, snap a photo, and then tramp back to their cars. Adventurers who leave the crowds behind and forge up the Basin-Cascades Trail, however, quickly find their delight meter swinging high into the Lovely zone Dr. William Prime, who was known as America's Izaak Walton for his popular nineteenth- century book I Go A-Fishing, called Cascade Brook "the finest brook in America for scenery as well as for trout." Cascade Brook is a delight not only in terms of lovely views. The cascades and waterfalls that extend for a mile along the brook are also great fun to explore, offering a mixture of broad ledges, cool glens, and tempting pools. If you bring any rambunctious kids along it will be hard to hold them back! They'll find the urge to scamper up the ledges nearly irresistible. And on a warm summer day they might "accidentally" get pretty wet investigating the clear pools. A visit to the falls can be combined with a hike to Lonesome Lake, which occupies a picturesque basin beneath the high bluffs of Cannon Mountain, 1000 feet above the floor of Franconia Notch. Best of all would be to combine the waterfall hike with an overnight stay at the Lonesome Lake AMC hut. The hut offers visitors hearty home cooking, fine hospitality, and a perfect
view of evening alpenglow shimmering on the cliffs of Franconia Ridge across the notch.