Avalanche Falls

Worth a detour

Is it plungeworthy?

25feet tall

A horsetail on Flume Brook.

Scale34/60

Documentation15/20

Character14/20

The details

Type: Horsetail
Watercourse: Flume Brook
Coordinates: 44.10032, -71.66924

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About Avalanche Falls

Avalanche Falls is a 25-foot horsetail in New Hampshire, on Flume Brook.

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

Plungeworthy rates Avalanche Falls 6.3/10 — worth a detour. The score weighs its scale, how confidently it's mapped, and its character.

What you'll find

Avalanche Falls is the 45-foot waterfall at the head of Flume Gorge in Franconia Notch State Park — formed in a single 1883 storm, and now the climax of one of New England's most famous natural attractions. Flume Brook enters the gorge right at the falls, and the boardwalk delivers you almost underneath it.

This is the one waterfall on this list behind a ticket booth: the Flume is a paid, seasonal attraction with a two-mile one-way boardwalk loop through an 800-foot granite chasm whose moss-covered walls run 70-90 feet high. The falls is the payoff at the top.

Know what you're buying: it's a managed experience — visitor center, shuttle option, timed online tickets in peak season — not a backcountry hike. Judged as that, it's excellent, and the gorge itself is unlike anything else in the state.

Getting there

Trailhead: Flume Gorge Visitor Center, Franconia Notch State Park, I-93 exit 34A
Parking: Large visitor center lot
Road: Franconia Notch Parkway (I-93) — paved
Hike: 2 mi round trip (Easy-moderate — boardwalk loop with stairs; not wheelchair or stroller accessible past the first building)
Heads up: Boardwalk is slippery when wet. A shuttle bus runs from the visitor center part of the way.

When to go

Open May 8 through October 25 in 2026, with extended 9am-5:30pm hours in peak summer. Closed in winter. Buy online for the discount and to guarantee entry on fall weekends — foliage season sells out.

Rules & fees

Fee / pass: Admission: adults (13+) $18 online/$21 gate; kids 6-12 $16 online/$19 gate; under 5 free
Dogs: Not permitted in the gorge — designated dog-walk areas in the parking lots only
Hours: Seasonal, roughly 9am-5pm; extended peak-summer hours
Warnings: Stairs before the falls; boardwalk slippery when wet.

Researched from NH State Parks — Flume Gorge · Wikipedia — Flume Gorge. Conditions change — verify before you drive. Been to Avalanche Falls recently? Post a conditions report below.

Where it is

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Avalanche Falls doesn't have a photo yet. If you make the trip, send one to hello@plungeworthy.com and we'll publish it here with credit to you.

Before you go

The pin marks the feature, not a trailhead or a legal route in. Some sit on private land or need a real hike, and conditions change with season and rain. Check local access, don't trespass, and never enter water — hot or cold — where it isn't safe.