Two Massachusetts towns share one waterfall and 50 mysterious stone potholes

A Villages Built on Swirling Water

Shelburne Falls sits split across two Massachusetts towns, Shelburne and Buckland, facing each other over the Deerfield River.

Stone and brick storefronts line both banks, and short footbridges connect them like the town never quite decided which side it belonged to.

The whole place grew up around Salmon Falls, where the river drops hard over old rock ledges.

You can walk from one end of downtown to the other in minutes, past river views that feel pulled from a hundred years ago. What sits at the bottom of that waterfall is the real reason people come.

Where Salmon Once Ran Every Spring

Before any settlers showed up, Salmon Falls served as a shared fishing ground for the Pocumtuck and Mohawk people, who gathered there each spring when salmon swam up from the sea to spawn.

That run gave the falls their name, and locals also once called the spot Pocumtuck Falls. Settlers arrived in the 1700s and eventually built mills that ran on the river’s power.

Centuries later, in 1908, a trolley bridge went up over that same water. By 1929, gardeners had turned it into something the town is now famous for.

The Potholes Everyone Calls Glacial

More than 50 round holes sit carved into the riverbed at the base of Salmon Falls, some barely six inches across and others stretching nearly 40 feet.

People call them glacial potholes, but geologists say glaciers never touched them directly.

Loose stones did the work instead, spinning in tight circles for centuries as the current pushed them, grinding smooth basins into solid rock.

One of these holes has been called among the largest ever recorded. You are looking at pure erosion, patient and relentless, with nothing mechanical involved at all.

A Cluster Unlike Almost Any Other

This grouping ranks among the largest known concentrations of these round rock basins anywhere.

Each one got its near-perfect shape from a single stone that spun in place for ages, wearing the same circular path into the rock again and again.

An upstream dam diverts water away from parts of the old riverbed, leaving stretches of it exposed for you to walk right up to.

The gray stone looks scooped out by hand, smooth and rounded in ways that seem impossible for water alone to produce. Sunlight still catches in the pools that remain.

Sit and Watch the Falls Run

An observation deck waits at the end of Deerfield Avenue, giving you a clear look over the falls and the potholes below.

The river slides across dark rock ledges here, tumbling in a way that rewards you for just standing still and listening.

Historic markers near the overlook explain the old fishing rights once tied to this exact stretch of water.

Depending on the season and how much water the Deerfield is carrying, the view changes completely from one visit to the next. Few spots in town feel this quiet.

Walking Across a Bridge of Blooms

The Bridge of Flowers stretches 400 feet across the Deerfield River, and it used to carry trolley cars before it carried flowers instead.

Volunteers have planted and maintained the garden growing on it since 1929, and today it holds more than 500 varieties of plants.

Because the blooms shift with the season, you will never see the exact same bridge twice, whether you visit in May or September.

Water views stretch out on both sides as you cross, high above the river that the bridge was originally built to span.

A Beloved Bridge Gets Rebuilt

Major repairs closed the Bridge of Flowers for a stretch, and it reopened again in the summer of 2025 after crews rebuilt its walls and replaced the entire pathway.

Gardeners then started over completely, replanting every bed from bare soil once the construction wrapped up.

Roughly 100,000 people cross the bridge each year, according to officials, which makes it one of the more visited spots in this part of the state.

Walking across still costs nothing, though donation boxes wait at each end if you want to help keep it blooming.

Ride a Trolley Built in 1896

The Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum keeps a genuine piece of history running: Trolley Car No. 10, built in 1896, once hauled both people and freight straight across the river.

After the trolley line shut down, the car spent decades doing far less glamorous work as a farm chicken coop and storage shed. Volunteers eventually restored it and got it back on the rails in 1999.

Now you can ride it along a short track, and if you want to try something different, you can even pump an old hand-powered rail car yourself.

Browse an Artist Filled Downtown

Small galleries, pottery studios, and craft shops fill the storefronts along downtown Shelburne Falls, packed tight with handmade jewelry, local art, and goods you will not find at a chain store.

Cafes and bookshops sit tucked between them, and the whole stretch is built for browsing on foot at whatever pace you feel like keeping.

The village earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places thanks to its 1800s look, which still shows in nearly every building you pass. Nothing here rushes you.

Track Down the Town’s Hidden Mosaics

Colorful tile mosaics show up in unexpected spots around Shelburne Falls, worked right into walls and surfaces where you might not think to look.

One well known mosaic sits along the walking path toward the potholes, waiting for you to notice it.

These bursts of handmade art turn an ordinary stroll into something closer to a scavenger hunt, and finding them all gives you a reason to wander every side street.

The murals exist because this town has always leaned hard into its arts community.

Drive the Old Mohawk Trail

Route 2 through this part of Massachusetts follows the historic Mohawk Trail, a path that started as a Native American footpath used for thousands of years before any car ever drove it.

It opened as a scenic auto route back in 1914, making it one of the earliest in New England built purely for driving pleasure.

The road winds through hills, past river views, and through small mountain towns that barely interrupt the scenery. Come during fall foliage season and the entire corridor turns gold and red.

Farms and Orchards Fill the Hills

Apple orchards and family run farm stands dot the hills surrounding Shelburne Falls, and by fall they are stocked with fresh cider, produce, and baked goods worth the detour.

Rolling farmland and wooded ridges wrap around the whole valley, with Massaemett Mountain rising just east of the village itself. None of this requires a special trip.

You can fold the countryside into a single day already spent downtown, driving out for an hour before heading back to walk the bridge or grab a coffee.

Visit the Potholes at Salmon Falls, Massachusetts

You will find the potholes at the end of Deerfield Avenue in Shelburne Falls, just below the hydroelectric dam and a short walk from both the Bridge of Flowers and downtown.

The observation deck gives you the best view, since swimming and wading have been banned since 2002 and the rocks stay slippery.

Looking at the potholes and walking the bridge cost nothing, though the bridge only runs roughly April through October.

The Trolley Museum operates seasonally too, charging a small ride fee, with free parking behind the Bridge Street storefronts.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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