Fun Facts

• Deerfield River runs for 76 miles from southern Vermont through northwestern Massachusetts to the Connecticut River.

• The Deerfield is one of the most heavily used rivers in the country with, on average, a dam every 7 miles (11 km) or so for its entire length.

• In Shelburne Falls, the glacial potholes and the Bridge of Flowers are popular tourist attractions around the river.

• The spooky Hoosac Tunnel is right near our launch point. Yes! It is part of our weekend plans! http://www.hoosactunnel.net/

·        The last dam built on the Deerfield was Fife Brook Dam, which was built in the early 1970s in conjunction with the development of the Bear Swamp Pumped Storage facility. This facility acts as a battery for power generated during times of low demand. By using excess electricity to pump water to the top of the mountain, where a reservoir was created by building levees around an existing high swamp, energy is stored. When electrical demand is higher (usually midday or afternoon/evening) the water from the upper reservoir can be released through the turbines (which act as pumps in reverse) to meet demand.

·        The third commercial nuclear reactor in the United States was built in the town of Rowe, Massachusetts on the banks of the Deerfield River by Sherman Reservoir. Known as "Yankee Rowe" it generated electricity for New England from 1960 to 1992.

·        Historic Bardwell's Ferry Bridge over the Deerfield River. The Bardwell's Ferry Bridge is a 198-foot (60 m) long pin-connected through truss, built in 1882 and spans the Deerfield River between the towns of Shelburne and Conway in Franklin County. It is the longest single span lenticular bridge in Massachusetts. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

·        The Deerfield has several key places for whitewater kayaking, canoeing, tubing, swimming, camping, and jumping off the cliffs (that scale upwards to about forty feet) that surround it. A spot by the Stillwater Bridge in Deerfield is a popular swimming area, where jumping off the aforementioned cliffs is condoned but not advised. There are two sections of the river for whitewater paddling: the Fife Brook section for class II and III paddlers, and the "Dryway" for class IV paddlers.

·        In addition, there are several tributaries of the Deerfield River that provide excellent whitewater creek runs, including the class IV-V West Branch of the Deerfield in Readsboro, Vermont, the class V Dunbar Brook in Monroe, Massachusetts, the class V Pelham Brook in Rowe, Massachusetts, the class IV Cold River in Florida and Charlemont, Massachusetts, and the class III Chickley River in Hawley, Massachusetts.

·        This is also an excellent trout fishery, great for fly fishing. Two sections between the Fife Brook dam and the Route 2 bridge are catch and release.