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This is one hike you don't want to miss! The falls in the springtime and the vista anytime are awe-inspiring!
SPIRIT FALLS
This beautiful area is known by the name of Spirit Falls. It is located about 1 mile west of the Royalston Common at Royalston Center, emptying into Long Pond, also known as Tully Pond. Caswell describes it thus: “...About a mile west of the meeting house and center of the town, is a deep valley running north and south, nearly across the town. Near the meeting house is a pond [Little Pond] which empties itself into this valley by plunging rapidly down a steep declivity which must be eight hundred or a thousand feet high. It then empties into another large pond [Long Pond / aka Tully Pond], or rather a remarkable expansion of a small tributary of Millers River. At one part of the descent of the brook above named, it falls at least two hundred feet by several leaps within a distance of a few rods [800 or 1,000 feet], forming several very beautiful cascades. Here the original forests have not been disturbed. The trees over-hang the murmuring waters, half concealing the stream, while broken trunks are plunged across it in all positions.”
The Tully Trail is maintained by The Trustees of the Reservation. This part of the 19 mile hike includes two miles of trails closely following the ridgeline of Jacobs Hill, passing through a forest of beech, maple, ash, and birch, and connecting a spectacular westward overlook from exposed ledges. These trails include a breathtaking view of the forested slopes of Tully Mountain, Mount Grace, and the Berkshire Hills. Below is Long Pond and the East Branch of the Tully River, which winds slowly toward Tully Lake. Further south along the trail, a stream tumbles over the ridgeline, creating the dramatic Spirit Falls. At the eastern edge of the Reservation lies the source of Spirit Falls: Little Pond, a classic northern bog, whose concentric rings of black spruce and tamarack surround open water and a mat of sphagnum moss.
Bartlett writes further of the pond called “Little Pond” as follows: “This Little Pond, ‘near the meeting-house’, on the Common, excites the curiosity of to its source of supply, as no brooks empty into it and the water-shed draining into it is limited in territory. It seems probable that some natural breaking-up of the crust left this cavity, and that it is filled mainly by water seeping through the fissures in the ledges of the higher ridge at the north. It seems reasonable to suppose that the water secured through the artesian wells driven around the Common in recent years [ca. before 1927], may come from substantially the same sources as that which fills Little Pond; that pond may be something like a natural artesian well.”
From the Royalston center, follow Route 68 north 0.5 miles to the Jacob Hill Reservation, Tully Trail Trust entrance and small parking area on the left. Check out the mounted trail map, and pick up the yellow marked trail to the left of the lot. Follow the path and signs to the vista, a wonderful picnic spot, about .3 miles away. When facing the inspiring view, turn 180 degrees and head to Part 1, which is a film canister with Part 2’s coordinates. Part 2, an ammo box, is hidden near the falls. It’s filled with a variety of goodies that every hiker must have!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Cneg 1: Ybbx sbe n gerr tebjvat bhg bs n ebpx.
Cneg 2: Ng gur gbc bs gur snyyf, jurer n genvy pebffrf gur jngre, snpr jrfg, naq urnq qbja gbjneqf gur guveq fcbg. Ybbx orgjrra n ynetr ebpx naq n gerr gb svaq n uneq pnpur.