Shelburne Falls and panoramas
Another stop on the way back from the Summer Outing was at the small town of Shelburne Falls, home of the Bridge of Flowers. In 1929, the town converted an abandoned 400-foot long trolley bridge into a flower garden.
A much cooler sight, however, is across the street. At the end of the last ice age, the water flowing through the Deerfield River bored holes in the riverbed by pushing stones in circular patterns. For part of the year, the hydroelectric dam upstream stops the river enough to expose these glacial potholes. This geological wonder is also a popular local swimming hole.
While I was there, I made this QuickTime VR panorama. Click on this wide image to try it out. If you have QuickTime installed, you’ll be able to pan around in 3-D with your mouse. Nice effect, eh? I stood on a rock in the middle of the river and took about a dozen pictures, turning a little each time and overlapping a little bit with the previous one. I then fed them through a program called The Panorama Factory, which automatically stitches them together and saves them out as QuickTime VR. There are lots of programs that can do this, but The Panorama Factory is effective, easy to use, free to try, and cheap to buy.
Rick Copley posted on 2002-07-22 (source):
I've been there as well. Very cool. I actually learned about the potholes while taking a Geology class at UMass. My son Colby was there while in his moms belly. :)Jay posted on 2002-07-27 (source):
We do lots of camping in Florida, MA. Good coffee in Shelburne. May take punk kids to see potholes.Jeff Potter posted on 2002-08-31 (source):
Matthew, I found this on Google. I'm president of the Shelburne Falls Area Business Association, and I'm glad you had a good visit to our town. But since this page is coming up on a search, I need to inform you and your readers that the town of Shelburne closed access to the Glacial Potholes until further notice because of an escalation in the number and severity of injuries -- it's not a safe place to swim. However, this fascinating and beautiful area can still be enjoyed from the observation deck. Come back and visit soon!W. Phil Phillips posted on 2004-01-06 (source):
I was born and raised in that small town of Shelburne Falls and I spent a good deal of my time exploring the pot holes. There are some beautiful areas in and around Shelburne Falls that are far less dangerous to spend an afternoon! Just the same, I wouldn't trade my time there for anything.Joel Simpson posted on 2004-06-19 (source):
It's fabulous geology down there. I recently photographed it and will be back soon. The fact that it is barred to the public saves it in its pristine state, but it's a shame more people can't enjoy the geological beauty, comparable to that found out West in sandstone, except more concentrated here at S. F.