The 10 Best Waterfalls in Maine
Maine does waterfalls differently than the rest of New England. The best ones aren't in state parks off the interstate — they're up logging roads, behind private timberland gates, and threaded along the Appalachian Trail through country that still feels genuinely wild. The payoff for the extra effort is real: a 90-foot plunge out of a cliff face, a slate canyon nicknamed Maine's Grand Canyon, a horseshoe falls a hundred feet across on a river most people have never heard of.
Two housekeeping notes before the list. First, Maine has two waterfalls named Screw Auger Falls — a roadside one in Grafton Notch State Park and a remote one in Gulf Hagas — and half the photos on the internet are labeled with the wrong one. Both are here, clearly separated. Second, several of these falls sit on private timberland open to the public by landowner courtesy; that access survives on good behavior. And for paddlers, Allagash Falls — reachable only by multi-day canoe trip through the Allagash Wilderness Waterway — is the ultimate Maine waterfall trip, too far beyond day-trip territory to rank against the others.
Every pick is publicly accessible. The rankings weigh the falls themselves, the experience of getting there, and how honestly the destination delivers what it promises.
Maine's marquee waterfall: 90 feet of tiered plunge out of a gap in a cliff face, framed by a rock amphitheater. The logging-road approach and stream fords keep it wilder than its fame suggests — and the access road is fully rebuilt and open again after storm damage.
Directions, season & rules for Angel Falls →
The easiest real waterfall in Maine — a corkscrew pothole gorge on the Bear River, steps from the Route 26 parking lot in Grafton Notch State Park, with a deep, cold plunge pool that fills with swimmers all summer.
Directions, season & rules for Screw Auger Falls →
A sheer plunge into a gorge — billed at 90 feet, surveyed closer to 71, tall either way — at the end of an easy two-mile boardwalk trail near The Forks. The biggest waterfall payoff per step in the state.
Directions, season & rules for Moxie Falls →
Three falls in 700 feet of brook on the Appalachian Trail's old routing — about 100 feet of combined drop, with a 70-foot middle falls as the centerpiece. The rugged, underrated neighbor of Grafton Notch's crowds.
Directions, season & rules for The Cataracts →A powerful, nearly vertical 80-footer on the West Branch Ellis River with a swimmable pool at the base, earned via a real AT-adjacent loop hike with unbridged fords. Backcountry feel, day-trip distance.
Directions, season & rules for Dunn Falls →
The best rest-area waterfall in New England: 54 feet of slides, drops, and horsetails in a granite chute, five minutes from your car on Route 4, with picnic tables and swimming pools thrown in.
Directions, season & rules for Smalls Falls →A 40-foot horseshoe spanning a hundred feet of the Dead River, deep in unorganized territory. The famous hut and its long trail are still closed from flood damage — but the falls itself is an easy mile from the rafting put-in.
Directions, season & rules for Grand Falls →The crown jewel of Gulf Hagas, Maine's Grand Canyon: a punchbowl plunge on the Rim Trail sequence with Stair, Billings, and Buttermilk Falls. Behind a timberland gate fee and a river ford — and worth both.
Directions, season & rules for Screw Auger Falls →A 500-yard bedrock gorge on the Swift River where you can swim the potholes and legally pan for gold — lessons and gear rental right across Route 17. Maine's best hands-on waterfall stop.
Directions, season & rules for Coos Canyon →A clean 32-foot drop into a swimming hole, a quarter-mile off the Old Canada Road byway. The definition of a locals' spot — on private timberland open by goodwill, so treat it accordingly.
Directions, season & rules for Houston Brook Falls →Rankings reflect our research, not a verdict on your trip — every spot page takes community ratings and conditions reports, and that's where the real answer to "is it worth it?" lives.