Bash Bish Falls

Bash Bish Falls is a 50-foot tiered in Massachusetts, on Bash Bish Brook.

It's fullest after rain, and flow can drop off during dry spells — plan around recent weather.

Plungeworthy rates Bash Bish Falls 7.5/10 — worth the drive. The score weighs its scale, how confidently it's mapped, and its character.

Bash Bish Falls is Massachusetts' most famous waterfall and its tallest — a 59-foot final plunge split around a jutting rock into twin chutes, at the bottom of a cascade series totaling nearly 200 feet through Bash Bish Gorge in the state's far southwest corner.

It's also the state's most sobering waterfall: more than 25 people have died here over the past century, mostly from falls off the slick rock, and swimming has been banned since the 1960s. The viewing area at the base delivers the full postcard without anyone needing to test the pool.

Two approaches, pick by temperament: the Massachusetts lot on Falls Road drops steeply to the falls in a short, knee-testing descent; the New York lot at Taconic State Park, one state line over, trades distance for grade — three-quarters of a mile of gentle uphill that's the better call with kids.

Spring gives the falls their full twin-chute power; fall wraps the gorge in color and draws the biggest crowds. Open sunrise to sunset year-round, though the MA descent gets icy and treacherous in winter.