Rock Formations at Turners Falls, Connecticut River - Montague, MA - Places of Geologic Significance on Waymarking.com

In the town of Montague, there is a museum known as the Discovery Center that is the starting point for a geological walking tour around Turners Falls and the downtown area.

This tour, called "A Geologic Walking Tour of Turners Falls," has a downloadable booklet at www.turnersfallsriverculture.org, and is the basis for the information in this posting. This post will highlight was is covered in the booklet and provide some additional comments about what was observed. To go on the tour, you will need the booklet, since there are no signs or markers at the stops. The whole trail is about 3 miles on level or gently sloping land, so it can be walked fairly easily, or it can be biked, or locations can be driven to.

The first stop, marked 1 in the book, is the Great Falls Discovery Center. This is a free natural history museum run by Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (MassDCR). The place was recently opened, and, thus, all the exhibits look like new. There are several things to see here, including an impressive 3-D relief map of the entire Connecticut River Watershed from Canada to Connecticut, and a slab of preserved dinosaur footprints obtained from a location in the valley.

The second stop (N42 36.666, W72 33.285), down a path and across a bridge over the canal, allows you to see the Turners Falls dam and the immense rushing water coming out. This waterfall was once a natural drop of 40-50 feet for New England's largest river, but it had since been altered to power the industries that were along the power canal. The museum itself is in a building that is the remnant of these industries. The booklet states that there are three main rock formations that can be observed in the valley: Turners Falls sandstone or formation; Deerfield basalt; and the Sugarloaf arkose (seen at stop 4). The sandstone was made during the Jurrasic period, and is about 750 feet thick. It is the remains of an ancient shoreline and mudflats to a lake. The Deerfield basalt formed when the great continent of Pangea was breaking up and a rift valley formed that is now the valley.

The third stop is in the courtyard of the museum and is a slab of rock 200 million years old and shows preserved raindrops on the hardened mud. The courtyard is in an area off the paths, so it can be easily missed, but it is worth seeing.

The fourth stop is in a plaza by the parking lot. There are reddish rocks there that represent the Sugarloaf Arkose, which represent alluvial fan material washed down from ancient mountains and contain pebbles and course sand.

The fifth stop is at a rock formation a couple blocks from the museum. It is a large formation part of the Turners Falls formation. I had driven by but not stopped at this location, so I don't have much to add, here.

The sixth stop is at an Italian restaurant that has a bench that is in the shape of french bread, and was made from Indiana limestone - just pass on by; it's not worth the stop.

The seventh stop (N42 36.354, W72 33.568), is at Peskeomskut Park, a moderate town common with two ridges of rock formations near J Street. Here, more evidence of rain drops preserved in mud can be seen.

The eighth stop shows polished stone by a church that was evidence of glaciation. I had not stopped at this location, so I have nothing else to add.

The ninth stop shows a modern day ginko tree and tells that this is an example of an ancient form of trees.

The tenth stop (N42 36.392,W72 33.006) is back along the river, at a park. Here are the world famous mud balls of Turners Falls. There are several stones in place in a semi-circle. Some of these rocks are actually conglomerates where there is a dark mass surrounded by lighter masses around it. The dark brown pieces were chunks of clay broken off and ran down hill. On the way down, the corners were rounded and the surface picked up material. These balls then became buried in the mud, and later became part of the rock. The booklet states, that while armoured mudballs can be found from glacial deposites or ocean beaches, the ones found at Turners Falls are the only ones known to have formed at inland or terrestrial lakes. Of all the stops, this is the one where you need the booklet the most since you can align the pictures in the booklet with features in the rocks. The mud balls can be easy to miss if you don't know where to look.

That was the last stop. It is well worth a stop off Route 2 to see (but remember to bridng the booklet or visit the Discovery Museum while it is open).

Waymark is confirmed to be publicly accessible: yes Parking Coordinates: N 42° 36.591 W 072° 33.340 Access fee (In local currency): .00 Requires a high clearance vehicle to visit.: no Requires 4x4 vehicle to visit.: no Public Transport available: no Website reference: [Web Link]

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