Lower section of Great Falls – Almonte, Ontario

After extracting Graeme’s car from a muddy rut on a bushland trail north of Almonte, I drove to the lower section of the Great Falls parking lot in Almonte, Ontario, expecting to be able to walk over to bit of dry land at the base of the Lower Falls. I forgot that, since the last time that I had stopped here, a new power generation structure had been constructed and getting to the island by foot was no longer possible. Thankfully, the planners didn’t block off access to the falls completely so there are still some excellent vantage points for viewing this Eastern Ontario falls.

At this point in the landscape, the Mississippi River drops through two sets of cascading falls. Between the upper falls and the lower falls, the river passes through a rock cut, passes over some flat rock areas and then tumbles down through a rock debris section before continuing on towards the Ottawa River.

After spending a bit of time enjoying the sights and sounds of the lower section of the Great Falls and doing a little experimenting with lower shutter speeds, I headed uphill to photograph the upper section of the Great Falls and a bit of the town of Almonte.