Yantic Falls is a 40-foot tiered waterfall on the Yantic River in Norwich, Connecticut, where the river squeezes through a narrow rock gorge about a mile from downtown. Known also as Indian Leap or Uncas Leap, it is the place where, in Mohegan tradition, the sachem Uncas leapt the falls during a battle with the Narragansett, and it is now the centerpiece of the city's Uncas Leap Heritage Park.
The falls
Yantic Falls is steep tiered cascades in two drops totaling 40 feet. A small dam caps the upper drop, but only its top 6 to 10 feet are man-made; the rest is natural bedrock. The river falls through a narrow slot now crossed by a railroad bridge and a footbridge, and the city's park takes in the waterfall, the gorge and the ruin of a nineteenth-century mill.
Getting there
The falls sit in Uncas Leap Heritage Park, a 1.2-acre city site at 196–200 Yantic Street in Norwich. The Uncas Leap Trail is a flat walk of about 1 mile round trip with sidewalk access, and the Heritage Trail is a 2.8-mile round trip along the Yantic River from downtown Norwich. The site is open year round and free of charge. Parking details aren't published.
When to go
The park is open in every season.
On site
Parts of the site with views of the water are wheelchair accessible, while other sections of the trail climb a steep incline that may be hard for some visitors.
History and name
In the Mohegan account, Uncas jumped the Yantic Falls during a battle with the Narragansett and survived, after which his runner Tantaquidgeon captured the Narragansett sachem Miantonomo. The city and the Mohegan Tribe date the Battle of Great Plains, also called Sachem's Plain and Indian Leap, to 1643, and the tribe regards the site as a sacred part of its history.
Industry came to the falls with a nail factory in 1813, followed by paper and textile mills; many of the early enterprises failed in the financial panics of the 1830s, and in the 1860s the water rights were consolidated into a single business, the Yantic Falls Company. The brick mills and worker housing form the 10-acre Yantic Falls Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 28, 1972. The poet Lydia Sigourney, who played by the falls as a child, wrote "Falls of the Yantic," noting that mill development had diminished them but that she still loved them. A local steering committee formed in 2010 worked for 14 years to create the heritage park, which was dedicated on November 1, 2024.
Nearby
Quinebaug Falls is about 2.9 miles away, Shetucket Falls about 3.5 miles, and Baileys Falls on Bailey Brook about 7.6 miles. The Heritage Trail links the falls with downtown Norwich.
Distances are straight-line.