Epic Travel → North America → The Northeast → New Hampshire → Arethusa Falls

Location: Crawford Notch State Park, near Bartlett, New Hampshire

Time Required: 1 hour for the falls only; 2 hours for the loop hike with Frankenstein Trestle

Distance: ~3 miles roundtrip to the falls; also done as a 5 mile loop hike with Frankenstein Trestle

Elevation Gain: 1400 ft (for the 5 mile loop hike)

Red Tape/Notes: Trail can be icy in winter and spring; great for fall colors in the autumn.

What’s Nearby?: Frankenstein Trestle, Covered Bridges of Bath, Mount Washington, Diana’s Baths, Echo Lake State Park, Saco River Kayaking

It makes sense to me to hike the extra couple of miles and do the loop with Frankenstein Trestle (you get beautiful views on this loop, in addition to the very cool trestle), but people do often hike just to Arethusa Falls, and I would say it’s still worth it. I’ve read reports that say they’re the highest falls in New England (excluding seasonal waterfalls like Dryad), but opinions seems to vary on exactly how high the falls are. Regardless, they’re certainly over 100 feet – probably more like 140 feet, presenting a lovely multi-tiered sheer drop. When we hiked the trail, the water flow was very low, but the falls were still pretty. I imagine they would be truly breathtaking during higher flow – someday we’ll go back and take better pictures.

Epic Travel → North America → The Northeast → New Hampshire → Arethusa Falls