Boonton Falls

Boonton Falls, Boonton, New Jersey (2/6/2010)

It snowed heavily today in parts of New Jersey. Southern New Jersey received nearly two feet in many spots and there were blizzard warnings posted for the Jersey shore. (As an aside, Washington, D.C. got its biggest storm since 1922 and as of 3 PM it was still coming down.) But there was such wide variability that not a single flake fell in parts of Northern NJ. So we took the opportunity to drive the merely-wet roads to Booton Falls, less than 20 minutes from home, a natural attraction we had never seen previously, despite visiting Boonton countless times, mostly to eat at Chili Willie's.

We couldn't have picked a better day! The falls, dubbed Boonton's Little Niagra, were roaring, and half of it was frozen in gorgeous patterns that photographs could hardly capture. This trek was wonderful! Not only did we see the Rockaway River raging, but we saw Washington Rock (once a tourist attraction), and ruins from the famed Boonton Ironworks, including blast furnaces, an abandonded railway bridge, and a railroad turntable that was used to turn the trains.

After following, for the most part, this hike description, we drove to a site of the Morris Canal and walked a short loop along the towpath before returning to our car parked in a lot on North Main Street. Total distance covered today was 2.5 miles with lots of exploring.

(Click on the thumbnail to bring up a bigger image in a pop-up window)