Arethusa Falls

Arethusa Falls is a 140-foot tiered in New Hampshire, on Bemis Brook. The water falls in 3 distinct tiers.

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

Plungeworthy rates Arethusa Falls 8.7/10 — drop everything. The score weighs its scale, how confidently it's mapped, and its character.

Arethusa Falls is New Hampshire's headline waterfall — a 140-foot drop on Bemis Brook in Crawford Notch State Park, usually described as the tallest single-drop waterfall in the state. The height has a long argument attached: it was originally measured at 176 feet, a lidar re-analysis suggests around 155, and the modern consensus figure is 140. Whatever the tape says, standing at the base it reads enormous by New England standards.

The falls pour down a broad granite face in a wide sheet, most dramatic in spring when Bemis Brook is running full. It's the anchor of the White Mountains waterfall circuit and the standard against which the state's other falls get measured.

The 'tallest in New Hampshire' title comes with an asterisk worth knowing: Dryad Fall in the Mahoosucs measures higher cumulatively by lidar, but as a multi-step cascade, not a single drop — Arethusa keeps the single-drop crown.

Spring snowmelt is the show — the falls run at full width in April and May. Summer flow is thinner but the hike stays popular; winter turns the face into a well-known ice-climbing destination.

No closures or reroutes were active at last check, but Crawford Notch sees periodic trail work — a quick look at NH State Parks alerts before a trip is cheap insurance.