Rocky Gorge Kancamagus
— — the granite slot the Swift River cut.
Not only on a wall.
“A narrow granite chute on the Swift River, where the Kancamagus Highway runs through the Albany Intervale. A wooden footbridge spans the gorge at the narrowest point. Just upstream, Falls Pond holds still against the noise of the water. The Forest Service posts the chute as no-swimming after a long history of drownings; the bridge and the half-mile pond loop are the way to take it in. from the studio
Rocky Gorge Kancamagus, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Rocky Gorge Scenic Area lies on the Kancamagus Scenic Byway about nine miles east of the Lincoln entrance, in the White Mountain National Forest. The Swift River narrows from about thirty feet wide to less than ten and drops through a chute of polished granite worn smooth by glacial meltwater. A wooden footbridge crosses the gorge at the chute itself; a loop trail of about half a mile circles Falls Pond upstream, through hemlock and white pine. The site is one of three formal scenic stops along the Kancamagus, along with Sabbaday Falls to the west and Lower Falls to the east.
The Swift River drains the high country of the Sandwich Range, gathering snowmelt and rainfall through the Albany Intervale before joining the Saco at Conway. At Rocky Gorge the river falls about fifteen feet through the granite slot in a single chute; the pool below is deep and cold year-round. The chute was cut during the retreat of the last continental ice sheet, about ten thousand years ago, by meltwater under high pressure. The Forest Service prohibits swimming, wading, and jumping; the rule is enforced because the undercurrent below the falls has taken lives.
Rocky Gorge is a day-use Forest Service site on the Kancamagus Scenic Byway. A paved parking area, vault toilets, and a short paved walk lead to the footbridge over the gorge; the Falls Pond loop continues another half mile through the woods. A White Mountain National Forest recreation pass is required for parking from late May through mid-October. The Kancamagus is plowed and kept open in winter from the Conway end, and foot traffic continues year-round, although the gorge itself ices over by January.