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Gardner Falls
Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts
Hydroelectric dam on the Deerfield River at Shelburne Falls. Viewing from river-bank vantage; paddler portage required.
At a glance
Overview
Gardner Falls — known on FERC and LIHI records as the Gardners Falls Project — is a hydroelectric dam on the Deerfield River between Shelburne and Buckland, near Shelburne Falls. The concrete gravity dam is 337 feet long and 30 feet high with an ogee spillway and a 1,300-foot power canal. It is not a natural waterfall: viewing is from public river-bank vantage along the Deerfield corridor, and paddlers must portage around the dam.
- Also known as
- Gardners Falls, Gardners Falls Project, Gardner Falls Dam
- County
- Franklin
- Region
- Pioneer Valley
- Water type
- River
- Swim feature type
- Dam drop
Know before you go
Private
Conditions
Conditions snapshot
Check posted signs and official updates before entering.
Getting there
Approach from Route 2 / Route 112 in Shelburne Falls and follow Deerfield Avenue along the river toward the dam. View from public bank-side vantage points; paddlers on the DF12 run (Power Dam 4 to Gardner Falls) must take out and portage around the dam — do not approach the spillway by water.
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