Pond Brook Falls

Length: 0.2 miles out-and-back

Difficulty (click for info): Beginner

Elevation Gain: 50 feet

Rating (click for info): 6/10

Height: 50 feet

Source: Pond Brook

Driving Directions:
Trailhead and parking area are located on Nash Stream Road in Stratford, NH. (Seasonal road - check status on TrailsNH to verify gate status). From Rt. 110, 2.6 miles east of Rt. 3 in Groveton, drive north on Emerson Road. In 1.4 miles, bear right as Emerson Road merges into Northside Road. Continue 0.7 miles to a triangle junction next to a cemetery. Turn left onto Nash Stream Road. The parking area is 5.7 miles down Nash Stream Road, on the right side. Half a mile past a junction with Trio Ponds Road on the right, you'll pass a snowmobile trail and cross a bridge over Pond Brook. Just on the other side of the bridge, park on the right in a pull-off. You'll see a sign on a tree for Pond Brook Falls. Click here for a Google map.

About the Hike:
Located deep in Nash Stream Forest, six miles down Nash Stream Road, Pond Brook Falls is a remote and peaceful scenic beauty. The hodgepodge of shallow water slides and cascades across sun-baked ledges is an amusing sight for all waterfall explorers. While driving to them is a quite a journey, the trail to the falls is very short, wide, and easy to follow. From the parking area, head to the sign for Pond Brook Falls Trail and walk 0.1 miles down the path. After crossing a stony brook bed, you'll come to a junction where the trail, extended in 2016 to create a new segment of the long-distance Cohos Trail, turns left. Bear right here where two paths lead out to views of the falls. The closest one leads to the right over to a point in the brook below the main falls, where you can see the lowest cascade, an angled drop into a deep pool. The main path straight ahead leads out onto the wide rocks in the midst of the falls. You'll pass the only straight drop over a ledge step as you walk out into the open. Ahead, the brook spreads out into wide sheets of water as it slips and slides across the diverse angles and slopes of the impressive rock. If the rock is dry alongside the brook, it is easy enough to walk up to the top and see a few additional smaller cascades and take in a different perspective looking downstream.

Printable directions page