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River

Napanee River

Class

Plunge

Size

Insignificant

Visitability

Average

Accessibility

Free

Activity

Occasional hikers

Walk Time

3min

Trail

Easy

Gorge Access

Moderate

Other Trails

Some

County

Lennox and Addington

Follow Hwy 401 east to Lennox and Addington Rd 41 at Napanee. Go south on this road, but turn left at Industrial Blvd, which becomes Lennox and Addington Rd 1. Drive east for about 10 minutes to the village of Newburgh. Turn left on the main road into Newburgh (Lennox and Addington Rd #27), and then turn right on to Factory St. Follow this street to the end, and walk across the Newburgh Conservation Area to the river. The lower falls are behind the playground.

Settlement

Newburgh

NTS Map

31C/7

Easting

350536

Northing

4909602

UTM Zone

Newburgh Falls is a very small waterfalls. A trip to the site isn't even recommended unless you are on your way to nearby Yarker Falls. The site is a nice pit stop however, where two long, low waterfalls each form steps in the river that are less than 1m high and about 15-20m wide. The Napanee River flows swiftly over flat limestone and has removed all but the largest blocks from the river bed.

While small, this site shows two important geological processes. Note that most of the fractures along the river and its banks run approximately east-west. This fracture orientation, quite convincingly controls the edge of the lower waterfall. Since the rock fracture represents a weak spot in the bedrock, the river has eroded small blocks of limestone off its bed along this line. Also visible are the thin beds (1-2cm) of shale that separate the limestone forming the upper and lower waterfalls. The easily eroded shale, which can be broken in your hand) wears quicker than the limestone, forming a small overhanging rock ledge in the upper limestone bed (just visible in the photograph). The different erosion rates of each rock are primarily responsible for forming the plunge class of waterfalls, regardless of the waterfall's size.