| County: |
Lewis |
| Town: |
Greig |
| USGS Map: |
Brantingham |
| Waterway: |
Independence River |
| Latitude: |
N 43.73234o |
| Longitude: |
W 75.36134o
|
| Drop: |
~50' |
|
This location isn't especially remote, but it is a few miles from
any community of any size. From Lowville, take the Number
Four Road to the hamlet of Bushes Landing where you will pick up
the Pine Grove Road. Proceed past the intersections of the
Austin Road and the Bradish Road and you will come to the Rudd
Road on your left. Actually, the Rudd Road is a loop and the
other end is just past the bridge over the Independence River, a
short distance down the road.
Although this road is a loop, you can't get there from
here! At least, not in a car or truck. The bridge,
about half-way down this road is closed. We presume that it
reached a point where significant maintenance was needed and the
lack of traffic didn't warrant the expense. There are
dirt/sand piles on both ends but pedestrian traffic is still
possible. We came in from the southern end, which was a
short distance and easily passable. Since we didn't drive
the other end, we can't make any statements about its condition.
Although technically unnamed, we have dubbed it the Rudd Road
Falls due to its location. We have also seen it referred to
as the falls under the bridge on Rudd Road. Whatever it is
called, it is a very interesting area.
There is about a six to eight foot drop at the bottom by the
bridge and another drop of about the same size a quarter mile or
so upstream. Between these is a series of drops and slides
over mostly smooth rock that has been worn over the
centuries. The first few pictures were taken from the bridge
of the bottom drop. There is a trail leading upstream from
the south side of the river. It takes you to the riverbed
where you can get a close-up view of the drops and slides.
Some of these are almost like natural waterslides.
Undoubtedly, during heavy spring run-off, the area we walked would
be under water.
The Independence River flows into the Black River just a few miles
downstream from this location in the town of Watson. The Black
empties into Lake Ontario in the Jefferson County community of
Dexter.
|
