Race Brook Falls is a 67-foot tiered waterfall on Race Brook in Mount Everett State Reservation, Sheffield, Massachusetts, one of a chain of falls on the brook. The Race Brook Trail from Route 41 follows the brook past the falls on its way up to the Appalachian Trail.
The falls
A field survey describes three horsetail steps of 30, 25 and 12 feet in quick succession over about 120 feet of streambed. All three can be seen together from the base, though the top step is foreshortened, and short spur paths off the trail lead to each one. Earlier surveys listed 260 feet in five drops, a figure that covered the whole run of falls on the brook; the full series is also given as at about 300 feet in five sets, with the lowest falls dropping nearly 100 feet and the fifth reached only by a short bushwhack.
Getting there
The Race Brook trailhead is a paved lot on Route 41 in Sheffield, about 2.8 miles north of the Connecticut line. The trail climbs gently, then descends to cross the brook without a bridge; Lower Race Brook Falls comes at about two-thirds of a mile and this set at about 0.8 mile. The state rates the full hike past the falls to the Appalachian Trail and Mount Race as difficult, 4.0 to 4.8 miles round trip; the Appalachian Trail lies 2.1 miles beyond the falls, with Mount Race and Mount Everett as options from there. The reservation is open year-round from sunrise to sunset.
When to go
Race Brook is fed by runoff, and in summer droughts it can dwindle to a trickle. May through October is the recommended season.
On site
Dogs are allowed. The state bans alcohol, overnight parking and off-road vehicles in the reservation. Swimming is listed as not possible or prohibited, and the falls are not wheelchair accessible. In August 2013 a 28-year-old hiker died after falling about 35 feet into the ravine; keep to the trail and spur paths near the drops.
Nearby
Bear Rock Falls is about 2.1 miles away, Sages Ravine Falls about 2.9 miles and Bash Bish Falls about 4.1 miles.
Distances are straight-line.