Great Falls

Length: 3.2 miles out-and-back

Difficulty (click for info): Easy

Elevation Gain: 520 feet (+20 feet on return)

Rating (click for info): 6/10

Height: 12'

Source: Pond Brook

Driving Directions:
Trailhead and parking area are at the end of Bennett Street in Sandwich, NH. From Rt. 113A, 2.9 miles north of the western junction with Rt. 113, turn west onto Whiteface Intervale Road. Drive just a tenth of a mile and take the first left onto Bennett Street. Drive 1.7 miles down this dirt road to a fork with a bridge on the right. Bear left, past the residential portion of the road, where it becomes less well-maintained, and proceed another half mile past to the end of the road. The parking area will be on the left just before the gate. The trail continues up the gated portion. Click here for a Google map.

About the Hike:
Great Falls is an often overlooked hiking destination on the southern side of the Sandwich Range. There are plenty of hiking trails in this area, but few waterfalls of note. Great Falls is a created by a small gorge-like formation in the valley of Pond Brook, which drains the south end of Flat Mountain Pond in between Sandwich Dome and Flat Mountain. The falls don't possess majestic heights, but when the water is flowing well, they are a powerful force. The walk out to the falls is modest in distance and very gradual and offers nice scenery stops along the brook.

From the parking area, start walking up the gated woods road, which soon approaches Pond Brook, a wide and voluminous waterway. After 0.2 miles, pass a bridge on a privately owned road crossing the river on the right. Several places along the way are close enough to walk out to the brook and see a number of cascades, which are powerful in heavy water flow. In another 0.3 miles, make a right fork onto Bennett Street Trail. This narrower forest path dips down to cross a little brook, then runs mostly level through open woods for 0.35 miles to cross a slightly larger brook. Wandering into darker spruce woods, reach an intersection with Gleason Trail after 0.2 miles more. Bear right and stay on Bennett Street Trail, which soon approaches and runs along the top of the rounded bank above Pond Brook. In just over 0.1 miles, it passes a low cascade and pool and crosses another brook just above where it empties into Pond Brook. The trail continues to stay relatively close by the brook, and in another 0.15 miles, comes near a broad cascade into a sizeable, stone-rimmed pool. The trail then swings uphill away from the brook for a bit and descends to rejoin it, reaching the base of Great Falls after a quarter mile. Here you have a view upstream through the narrow channel in the angled rock walls which constrain the full force of the brook into Great Falls. Though lacking in height, the power of the falls is inspiring. Two large pools swirl below the falls, with a small cascade in between them. Just ahead on the trail, you can walk around to the top of the falls and look down into the miniature gorge.

Printable directions page