Deerfield, W. Branch,

Heartwellville to Readsboro Village

High Chair

High Chair
Photo of Dave Livingston and Ben Holzman by Dan Holzman taken 2001 @ Low/medium level

River Description

Directions: Put in on Rte. 100, just above Readsboro Falls, 2.8 miles upstream from Readsboro. The putin is determined by a large barn just off the road.
To takeout: follow the river downstream to Readsboro. Bang a right onto Tunnel Road, heading toward Monroe Bridge, MA. You'll cross the West Branch; continue South about half a mile past several houses to where river meets road. Pull off on the left.

Posted on NPMB by SilasMJai 03-23-03, 08:45 AM (Eastern)
"West Branch of Deerfield Access"
The Land owner at the put in (He owns the house, barn and fallen down mill on the other side of the river at Readsboro Falls) has asked me to convey some requests to paddlers putting in at Readsboro Falls.
For parking at the put in, please use the "State Land" just south of his property. The parking area is an unmarked level grassy area on the west side of Route 8.
To Access the river, there is a rough path that goes from the southwest corner of the "state Land" parking area directly to the river. Please do not go through the old mill on the opposite side of the river. That is the landowner's biggest concern. There was a partial collapse of the mill caused by kids playing in it and the landowner is concerned for our safety and his liability. I know this means the seal launch below Readsboro falls is no longer accessible, but it is a reasonable request by the landowner.
For those wanting to run Readsboro falls, please access the river upstream.

User Comments
Alden Bird 2004-04-08 10:39:29
I spoke with the guy who owns the property around Readsboro Falls. It is now OK to park at the old put-in, on the small dirt road next to the houses and the old barn. It is also OK to access the river here. In fact, the road and the bridge are public land (according to him). He also mentioned that he is keeping a running tab of how many sorry boaters need to exit readsboro falls hole by rope!

Daniel Holzman 2003-09-25 18:48:51
This is a classic New England run, steep, rocky, very busy. The West Branch holds water relatively well, and sometimes comes up after summer thunderstorms.

Tunnel Vision (the obvious drop at the first road crossing upstream of Readsboro) is a serious drop, with very sharp rocks apparently left over from road blasting. On one trip, a member of our group got seriously pinned partway down the drop, and had difficulty extracting.

The first two drops in the 1/2 mile sequence are known as Tunnel Falls, and are not so problematical. You can take out below the first two drops, and carry around the rest of the drop. If you decide to run the remainder of the drops, setting safety is critical (but difficult).

This is a difficult open boat run, very tight with tiny eddies. Open boaters should try it at medium levels, low levels are just too scratchy and easy to pin.