I’ve mentioned before that I don’t always remember specific waterfalls. I should probably write about the waterfalls immediately after visiting the falls, but sometimes that would mean writing about many waterfalls at once. I also like to write about different falls from different states and countries to give a bit of flavor.

A few of the waterfalls in New England leave a distinct memory, but some of these falls consistently fall into the less memorable category (to me, at least). I know I visited the Lower Race Brook Falls at the same time as the more widely known and popular Bash Bish Falls. There are five separate falls on Race Brook, but I only visited the first falls. The hike to visit all of the falls is over 3 miles round-trip, so I’m guessing I was worn out after finding the first falls, and turned around from there!

The hike to the Lower Falls is about 1.3 miles round-trip. I don’t wildly remember the hike, and I didn’t consistently categorize the difficulty of hikes until later so I didn’t forget when I’m writing about them 10 years later! I rated it this as a moderate difficulty hike, which could be based on some other sources. The whole hike is rated as a more moderate or strenuous hike.

I’ve seen pictures of some of the falls on Race Brook with much higher water levels. When I visited in August 2012, there wasn’t a whole lot of water flowing. The falls are in Berkshire County (The Berkshires), and the area was really beautiful. So even though I wasn’t wildly impressed with the flow of the falls, the atmosphere was really wonderful.

Directions:

1. The start of the trail is found along MA-41 in between the city of Great Barrington and the Connecticut border.
2. MA-41 and MA-23 are the same road in Great Barrington, but near the village of South Egremont, MA-23 continues west and MA-41 continues south. You want to continue along MA-41.
3. If heading south, continue from South Egremont just over 5 miles. The parking area for the Race Brook Falls Trailhead is on the right. If you go to far, you’ll reach the Race Brook Lodge.
4. As mentioned, at the trailhead, you can do a 1.3 mile round-trip hike to see the Lower Falls, or you can do the whole hike at about 3 miles round-trip.

Accessibility: 6/10 (moderate)
Height: ~100′
Length of Hike: 1.3 miles round-trip

Where in the World is Lower Race Brook Falls?