Big Falls is a waterfall on Missisquoi River in Orleans County, Vermont, in the Northeastern Highlands region, with a total height of about 40 feet. It lies about 9.2 miles west of Newport and roughly 139 miles northwest of Portland as the crow flies.
At 40 feet it is taller than the typical Vermont waterfall of about 30 feet, ranking 60th of 158 with a recorded height. The tallest single drop is 25 feet. The water comes down as a tiered waterfall, falling in several distinct steps one after another. It falls in 3 drops.
The Northeastern Highlands are the mountains of northern New England and the Adirondacks, with spruce-fir on the summits and northern hardwood forest of maple, beech and birch below, and countless lakes and boulder-strewn brooks. Fast mountain streams drop over granite and gneiss ledges in chains of falls and pools. Missisquoi River carries 2 recorded waterfalls, and Big Falls is the tallest of them.
There are 8 recorded waterfalls in Orleans County. Jay Branch Gorge, a 13-foot tiered waterfall, is about 1.5 miles away. Bakers Falls, a 25-foot segmented waterfall, is about 3.9 miles away. Mill Brook Falls, a tiered waterfall, is about 6.1 miles away.
Big Falls is located at 44.9726° N, 72.3861° W. The listing is based on the World Waterfall Database, one of the sources compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey in its inventory of waterfalls and rapids of the conterminous United States. The creek name is confirmed against the federal Geographic Names Information System. The position was verified on aerial imagery. Details on trails, parking and access have not been documented for this waterfall yet.