Soil solutions offer an opportunity to continuously monitor chemical change over short- and long-term periods with minimal disruption compared to repeated soil sampling. Here I present data from tension-free lysimeters installed along a natural soil catena at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire (HBEF). At HBEF, as in other acid-sensitive watersheds of the northeastern US, decreases in SO2 emissions and atmospheric deposition of sulfur have not been accompanied by marked changes in pH and acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) in surface waters. In soils, significant declines in strong acid anion concentrations, accompanied by declines in base cation concentrations, occurred in Oa and Bs solutions at all elevations during the period 1984-1998. However, the magnitude of change varied with position in the landscape. Recovery, as indicated by increasing ANC and decreasing concentrations of inorganic monomeric Al was confined to solutions draining the Bs horizon at mid-to-higher elevations. Solution pH either declined or exhibited no change. Evidence suggests that pH-buffering processes have prevented increases in drainage water pH despite considerable reductions in inputs of strong acids.