Bellows Falls, officially named Great Falls, is a stretch of rapids on the Connecticut River that descends about 35 feet through a narrow rock gorge between Walpole, New Hampshire, and Bellows Falls, Vermont. Two dams and a power canal now take most of the river around it, beside one of the first canals in the United States.
The falls
The river drops through a run of about three-quarters of a mile. Older accounts give 52 feet of descent; lidar suggests closer to 35 feet, and the falls are no longer counted as a true waterfall. Earlier surveys listed 42 feet. A dam at the head of the gorge diverts most of the flow to a hydroelectric station, and a second dam partway down has further changed the channel.
Getting there
Great River Hydro, which runs the dams, maintains the Bellows Falls Fish Ladder and Visitor Center, two picnic areas, three trailered boat launches, a portage and a Connecticut River Paddlers' Trail campsite. Its grounds are open for day use from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.
Paddlers traveling the river portage about half a mile on the Vermont side: take out at the Pine Street launch on river left, cross the river and canal on Bridge Street, then follow Mill Street past the railroad tracks to the Bellows Falls Historical Society access, which has a concrete path and stairs.
When to go
There are no scheduled whitewater releases. Spill over the dam above 2,500 cubic feet per second happens now and then, mostly in spring. Great River Hydro publishes changing flows through Waterline's Bellows Falls station.
On site
Boating in the bypassed gorge has not been permitted or provided, under Vermont's 2025 water-quality certification for the dam. In a May 2015 study at 1,580 to 9,660 cfs, paddlers rated the rapids Class II to III+ at lower flows and Class III to IV at higher ones; American Whitewater pointed to poor access and a low-head barrier dam as obstacles. Dogs are allowed on leash at the Mill Street access, where the dam is just upstream.
Two groups of petroglyphs sit on the Vermont bank just below the Vilas Bridge. They can be seen with binoculars from near the east end of Bridge Street, depending on vegetation and river level.
History and name
A British-owned company dug the Bellows Falls Canal from 1791 to 1802, with nine locks, to carry boats around the falls. Boat traffic ended in 1858, after the railroad arrived, and the canal was enlarged in 1926–28 to feed a new hydro plant; three workers died in a 1928 dynamite explosion. On October 30, 1879, Paul Boyton rode the falls in a rubber suit before about 2,000 spectators. Great Falls is the original name, made official by the Board on Geographic Names in 2016.
Nearby
The Falls on Kimpton Brook is 34.4 miles away, Tunnel Falls on the Deerfield River 35.8 miles, and The Whirlpool 40.8 miles.
Distances are straight-line.