LOCAL ATTRACTIONS​

 Just out side of the town of Phillips, the “Smalls Falls Rest Area” attracts more than just travelers looking for a driving break. Smalls Falls, with its scenic waterfall, colorful gorge, and fine swimming holes, welcomes all, often including visitors from all over New England. It does not take much water flow to make this waterfall impressive enough to please all its visitors. Just a tiny stream can create a false sense of whitewater power. This is attributable to the fact that the river upstream is considerably wider than the width of water that flows over the four sets of falls at Smalls Falls. The bottom of Small Falls consists of a 3-foot cascade falling into a 20-foot wide circular pool. The next waterfall up is a 14-foot fanning horsetail with a deep oblong-shaped pool people tend to jump into from above, a stunt that is highly dangerous. Even further up the trail, you will find a 25-foot segmented waterfall, with a plunge on the left and segmented horsetail on the right. The top waterfall is a 12-foot horsetail and slide. Beyond the final falls of Small Falls lies tiny plunges and cascades with equally clear and beautiful water. The only potential detraction from these great views are the chain link fences keeping you safe from falling over the rock walls, an acceptable price to pay for a dangerous alternative. All four sets of falls are found within a one of most colorful and beautiful gorges in the region. Its colors consist of beiges, oranges, greens, blacks, browns, gold, and ivory. There are plenty of places to sit along the gorge walls and bask in the beauty of the wide open area. Other features that make this waterfall so popular are the pools to swim in and the numerous places to picnic. At the base of each plunge, cascade, and horsetail is a pool to either wade or swim in. At the base of the lowest fall is a rocky beach, leading to the pool. There are also bathrooms, picnic tables, and fire pits—altogether, a place as accommodating as any picnic spot you can find. 

FISHING

In addition to Fox Carlton Pond (fly fishing only, catch & release) other area fisheries include Beal Pond (fly fishing only), Mt Blue Pond, Rapid Stream and Sandy River.  

SWIMMING

As the Sandy River cuts through Phillips check out these swimming holes. The Park by the Bridge, which is publicly owned, has a nice deep swimming hole and some big boulders to jump off. The other spots are on private land so we take care not to leave trash or be too rowdy. The Woolen Mill - the spot in the river where the woolen mill used to be - has great vast rocks to jump from and swim around. It also has a small safe sandy spot for kids. It's fun to swim there with goggles and a mask so you don't bump your head on a boulder.  And the Depot offers a nice deep spot to take a dip, it's just down the bank right behind an old passenger car from the Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum. 

 Preserving, restoring and collecting the artifacts of the SRRL RR. Presenting the history of the railroad by providing a living history experience. Offering passenger rides to the public on recreated two foot gauge track. www.srrl-rr.org 

 There are big rocks, and there are bigger rocks. And then there’s Daggett Rock, in the western Maine town of Phillips is the source of local legend and a certain notoriety.

Daggett Rock, sometimes referred to as Daggett's Rock, is thought to be the largest glacially transported erratic in the State of Maine. Daggett Rock is approximately 80 ft long, 30 ft wide, and 25 ft high and may weigh as much as 8000 tons. It has broken into three pieces since coming to rest. The power of the glacier can be appreciated by determining the source of the boulder. The rock is made of granite with some feldspar crystals more than 1 inch long. The granite may be derived from the Redington pluton in the Saddleback Mountain area many miles to the northwest -- a long way to transport an 8000 ton rock!