Sandstone Falls

Yesterday I drove south to Sandstone Falls. At this spot, the New River flows over a hard sandstone underlaid by softer shales. The shales erode away, then the sandstone layer breaks off, forming the falls.

There are two sets of falls. The lower, or westerly falls are spread over a fairly wide drop edge and are preceded by a number of smaller drops resulting in a drop of about 10 feet at the end. They are very accessible by a wooden walkway that leads to various vantage points along and below the drop.




This was a popular fishing spot. One angler, either very lucky or very skillful had a catch of about 20 fish ranging up to smallmouth bass about 14" long.







To the east a bit is the main or upper falls. These have a much smaller drop edge, much more volume, and a 25' drop. Unfortunately, I could not get to them to photograph them except from an overlook high on the east bank. That vantage point was good for looking at them, but not for pics.