Location: Grace Lord Park, Boonton, NJ
I knew about the existence of this waterfalls for a long time. I lived in Parsippany for about 7 years and the falls was just a few miles away. Why the waterfall chaser in me ignored this is still a mystery. I am the kind of guy whose eyes pop up when I see the word Falls on a map.
By the way, there are places like Little Falls and Tinton Falls in NJ that are just click baits. There are no waterfalls in either towns. And no, I did not waste my time driving to these places to be disappointed. Thank God, Google!
Even lifelong residents of the great state of New Jersey may not associate the town of Boonton with waterfalls. It is not the Niagara of New Jersey. That honor is already awarded to the Great Paterson Falls. If I had not been a resident of Parsippany and not a waterfall chaser, I would not have known it either.
I have been captivated by waterfalls all my life. Like the waves lapping the shore, I never get bored watching water falling over vertical drops. It is true that a powerful waterfall like the Niagara or the Yellowstone awes you by its sheer force, but the smaller ones like the Boonton Falls have its own charm.
I am not sure if there is an official rating for waterfalls. I do know that there is an official database for waterfalls. This should not be a surprise. There is now a database for almost everything. According to the World Waterfall database there are about 17,072 waterfalls in the United States and 67 in the state of New Jersey . A search for Boonton Falls returned a single record. No surprises there. The record says that Boonton Falls is the unofficial name of the Falls and that this also goes by the name of Grace Lord Falls. Total Height and the tallest drop both measure at 22 feet. No ratings. I have not seen all 67 falls in NJ yet. Not even close. Based on what I have seen so far I would give it a # 2 rating.
Since an official rating system for waterfalls do not exist, I decided to create my own. My rating system is based on its height, the amount and consistency of water flow in all seasons, the scenery and what I call the wow factor. Like automotive tires, if the waterfall retains its waterflow and wow factor in all 4 seasons, they get an All Weather badge and bonus points. The latter two are very subjective parameters. Enjoying waterfalls is art not science so we should be okay with that. I give a 2 for height, 2 for waterflow, 5 for wow factor and bonus of 20 points for its All Weather rating. It gets a total score of 29.
Like all waterfalls, the water flow is at its peak in Spring and may be the best time to watch it in all its glory. The fall season definitely adds extra color to the surroundings and makes it more spectacular than the other seasons.
My first visit to the falls was on an extremely cold day and the path that led to the waterfalls was covered under several inches of fresh snow. The entrance to the park is via the Grace Lord Park. Just past the gazebo is a dam. To be honest, I thought the dam was the waterfalls and was mighty disappointed. Having grown up in a village in South India with countless natural waterfalls, manmade waterfalls in my mind are fake falls and not worth it.
Scratch that. Natural or manmade, falling water always has its allure. Most importantly, waterfalls, dams and fountains are also great subjects for long exposure photography. Grace Lord Park has all three and that is like a royal flush.
I wish the dam had a more enterprising “natural” looking background to compensate. Instead I now had more man-made things. Like waterfalls, I also have a thing for reflections. I like the idea of a reflection of the bridge on the river for a background better than a concrete structure. I am very impressed by the fact that new age phones like the iPhone now have the ability to take Long Exposure photographs which is the best way to photograph any form of moving water – dams, fountains, waterfalls, rivers, seashores. The picture below was shot on my iPhone SE. Pretty impressive!
If you think I have an eye for the bizarre, you are mistaken. I think everyone has. It is just that we are too absorbed with other things in our lives that we just don’t pay attention to a lot that is happening around us. It is like the common refrain that people have – I don’t have time. That is just another way of saying “I don’t have time for doing X, because I have prioritized my time to do Y and Z. The issue is also with the way our human brain has been wired. The brain gets its sensory inputs primarily from the eyes when it comes to enjoying nature. For efficiency purposes, the eyes and mind are both designed to focus on a few things instead of the entire vista your eyes truly have access to. Like the “spot the gorilla” experiment, you miss millions of fine details every waking moment of your day and it is by design. Your eyes and brain can see both the forest and the tree but not necessarily both at the same time. If you are wondering where I am headed with this detour, I spotted a few strange ice sculptures on the way. Humans also have this special gift called Pareidolia, the ability to see familiar things in random visual patterns.
I did a double take when I passed this. I saw and still see a Grand Piano, as magnificent as a Steinway if not more crafted exquisitely by Nature in rock and ice.
Not far from the dam, is the actual falls. It is definitely not a thunderous waterfalls that you can hear from far. The snow added a new dimension to the falls and it was a wise decision to weather it that day. It was not entirely frozen and the water flow was decent. For the best views of the waterfalls, walk further down the path, past the Washington rock, cross the stone bridge and follow the trail on the other side of the Rockaway river. See picture below.
My second visit was in fall, an unplanned visit. It was past peak in NJ. I had just gotten my first mirrorless camera – a Canon R7 and I wanted to try it out. Like I had expected, the fall did accentuate the colors of the surrounding and the falls looked spectacular.
I was just about to pack my bag and leave, when I noticed something magical. It was definitely not an every day sight. On a rock I spotted a few Hopi Black Dye Sunflowers. Luckily for me, there was a path that led me right to the rocks. I realized that the view of the falls from the rocks was even better. I wanted to compose a shot with the sunflowers in the foreground and the falls in the BG. It was not easy to fix the tripod on the uneven surface and I had to crouch in a very uncomfortable position to access the dial and the view finder. It was an overcast day and the camera had a lot of focusing issues as well. One big reason I had to return it. All that hassle I thought was so worth it. Check these photos and let me know what you think.
For more pictures visit the Gallery page here: Boonton Falls Gallery
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