Purgatory Chasm Photos

These are three of the oldest published pictures of Purgatory Chasm in Sutton, Massachusetts: engravings titled "Entrance to Purgatory," "Within Purgatory" and "Egress from Purgatory," printed in a history of the town of Sutton in 1878. They show the same boulder-choked cleft you walk through today, with rock walls that DCR puts at up to 70 feet. Below the pictures is a guide to the spots photographers come for, and what has changed since these were drawn.

About These Pictures

The engravings come from History of the Town of Sutton, Massachusetts, from 1704 to 1876, compiled by William A. Benedict and Hiram A. Tracy and published in Worcester in 1878. Long out of copyright, the book was scanned by the British Library, which is where these images come from. They show the chasm as 19th-century visitors knew it, before it became a state park.

• Entrance to Purgatory: the mouth of the chasm, with boulders piled between the walls and trees rooted in the rock. Today the Chasm Loop Trail starts here, across the street from the visitors center.
• Within Purgatory: a tall, split rock wall inside the chasm, with young trees growing out of the cracks. This is the stretch where the trail is a scramble over boulders.
• Egress from Purgatory: the far end, where the boulders thin out among tall trees. Today's trail turns left out of the chasm at the far end and loops back through the woods.

Where People Take Photos Today

DCR's self-guided tour invites visitors to take pictures and share them, and its seven stops are the classic shots. In trail order: His Majesty's Cave, Lover's Leap, the Devil's Pulpit, the Devil's Coffin, Fat Man's Misery, the Devil's Corn Crib and the Glacier Chair. The full stories and distances are on the rock formations page.

• Fat Man's Misery: the narrow slot, about 1.5 feet wide, was a popular place in the park's early days, according to DCR, whose tour sheet shows a family posing there. Mind the ledge nearby.
• Lover's Leap: look up from the chasm floor to the sign about 12 feet up the right-hand wall and the rim far above.
• The Devil's Pulpit: old photos show it standing upright. It tipped over in 1994, so a modern photo shows a stone on the ground with an alcove behind it.
• The Devil's Coffin: the carving "Prepare to meet thy god" on the left wall of the entrance is more than a century old.
• The Glacier Chair: a smooth, couch-shaped rock above the chasm entrance, and a good spot for a group picture at the end of the hike.

Tips for Photographing the Chasm

• Go on a dry day. DCR warns the rocks are slippery during and soon after rain, and you'll be stepping around with a camera.
• Wear rubber-soled shoes or boots and keep a hand free for the scramble. A small camera or phone is easier than a big kit on the boulders.
• Stay away from the edges for that rim shot. DCR's first rule here is to keep clear of the chasm edges.
• Don't climb the chasm walls to get an angle. DCR asks hikers not to.
• Plan around the hours: the park is open sunrise to sunset, and DCR closes the Chasm Trail in winter.

What Has Changed Since 1878

The rock is the same; the setting isn't. Since these engravings the chasm became a state park after its sale by the Whitin Machine Works, DCR's tour notes postcards from before the Hurricane of 1938, the Devil's Pulpit fell in 1994, and the park gained a visitors center, picnic grounds and a playground. The full story is on the history page.