After visiting these, I was torn between checking out a couple places in Princeton I hadn't been to yet and checking out Muddy Brook in West Boylston. I opted to go to Muddy Brook, as it was less likely to be flowing in lower water conditions, and the recent snowmelt would surely be sufficient to put on a display. After initially driving by the pullover at the Boylston town line, I turned around and pulled off the road. I crossed 140 and headed up the old Hartwell Street. The old road ascends steeply and then enters an open forest. From here, I headed over a couple dirt piles and descended towards Muddy Brook. I immediately noticed a cascade at the head of the small ravine the brook had created. The brook split above the drop, and the right side fell over a muddy ledge, probably around 6 feet in total. After checking this area out, and discovering that this was the only cascade in the immediate area, I decided to head upstream further. I had checked maps and known previously that if there was a main drop to these falls, it would be here. After a particularly thick bushwhack under some high power lines, I came across the main attraction. Muddy Brook emerged from a culvert underneath the train tracks, and dropped down a horsetail around 4-5 feet in height (upon further inspection, I realized this drop is actually much taller, as it falls while in the culvert). After this, it bounces down, over muddy railroad ties, broken rock, and fallen trees. Finally, it enters a low angle chute for twenty feet and plunges the remainder of the drop. All in all, I'd say that the main drop here is around 50 feet tall, but it's certainly not continuous. Above the tracks, there is a small but not hugely impressive cascade that falls into the culvert.
Don't expect to go to these falls and get a good picture. There is an abundance of dead trees, thorns, awkward topography, and just about anything else that could get in the way. There are really only two portions that make for nice pictures, the lowest portion of the main falls, and the drop below the power lines. The easiest way to access these is also probably not from the lowest falls, either, but from following the old Hartwell Street further and then cutting down along the clear cut section adjacent to the power lines. All things considered, this site is not the most attractive I've seen, but the falls themselves are pretty cool.
I decided to name these falls Temple Falls after the road passing along the bottom of the hill they're on. I have no idea if there's a real name to them, but if there is, I'd love to know what it is.
The first drop I encountered
My attempt at capturing all of the main drop in one shot
The bottom of the main drop
The same part from the side
The lowest drop with the main drop in the background.
