The Basin, White Mountains, Franconia Notch, New Hampshire
Some 25,000 years ago as the Ice Age came to a close this large pothole, now called The Basin, started to form. Melting water from the glacier eroded the solid granite bedrock. During the thousands of years that followed sand and stones were whirled around by the force of the river causing a boring action that left the sidewalls smooth.
The American Naturalist Henry David Thoreau stood at this place on his first trip to the White Mountains in September 1839 and would write later in his journal, ”this pothole is perhaps the most remarkable curiosity of its kind in New England” (source: signboard on site).
Well, we visited this place 187 years later and were probably no less impressed by this unique feature in the Franconia Notch in New Hampshire. It is a photographer’s paradise and offers endless possibilities to shoot flowing water in this rocky environment. Bringing a tripod is highly recommended but the parking lot is not very far away, so you don’t have to carry it for very long.