Sunday morning I got up real early as the daytime heat over the past few days had been oppressive and I wanted to beat as much heat as possible. I decided to head to a location in Greenwood that a colleague had told me about that the locals call “the Potholes”. Some will disagree with me as to what river/stream it is on, but either way, the geographic location is the same. Some have told me that it is on Black Brook and some that is is on the Little Androscoggin River. If you look at the DeLorme gazetteer it will verify that it is part of the Little Andrsocoggin.
I have embedded a Google map at the end of the post to show the starting location and the location of some of the pictures here.
To reach the potholes you have to walk an active railroad for a couple of miles, which is illegal, so kids don’t try this at home… yadda, yadda, yadda…. You can probably reach them via a North or South entry, but my colleague showed me how to approach via the South. Drive to West Paris on route 219 and continue toward Greenwood. The Little Androscoggin River parallels the road on the right. Route 219 crosses over the Little Androscogging then veers left where Old County Road continues straight. Shortly after the left at Old County Road, the railroad comes in high above the road on the right and there is parking on either side of the road. As a second option, you can travel a 100 yards or so further and park where Route 219 crosses the river again at a little spot on the right. Walk North on the railroad tracks. Cross a stone trestle where if time permits there is a path leading along the river back to route 219. Nice falls here! I explored this area on my return. Shortly after the stone trestle you can hear water rushing to the right side of the railroad. There are a great bunch of boulder falls located here. I also explored here on my return.
At 1.25 to 1.5 miles cross a steel trestle. This can be creepy if you are afraid of heights. At approximately 1.75 miles there is an old, round, cement tile to the left of the railroad. Enter the woods here and walk straight on to the potholes. The potholes are really interesting and I could have spent hours here exploring, but I didn’t have too much time to linger. I spent an hour or so looking around and locating some interesting features. There is one place where the water has carved a narrow chasm in the ledges 50 or 60 feet long, 20 to 30 feet deep, and only a few feet wide. I’m planning on coming back to this feature to attempt to get down in with waders to take some photos along the length of the chasm. Once the river emerges from the Potholes, it breaks over a large set of falls into a tranquil pool. Be aware that there are no footpaths here and it is wet, muddy, buggy, and the evergreens are dense. Soooo worth the effort though!
View Little Androscoggin Potholes, Greenwood, ME in a larger map
