Glen Falls is a 65-foot tiered waterfall on Glen Falls Brook in Orange County, Vermont, tucked into a narrow gorge on the west side of Lake Morey in the Fairlee Town Forest. The walk has been a traditional Fairlee outing for over 100 years.
The falls
The World Waterfall Database describes a series of low-volume horsetails, with the central drop a 30-foot horsetail squeezing through the gorge. It lists 65 feet as a conservative total measured from mid-gorge, and notes that cascades farther upstream could add as much as 45 feet more. An earlier figure was 75 feet, and the falls have also been labeled as an 80-foot cascade and waterfall. The main plunge, about 25 feet, shoots through a small opening between the gorge walls into an almost circular pool, with smaller cascades above and below.
Getting there
Park at the Cross Rivendell trail lot on the west side of Lake Morey Road, walk a few yards south along the road, and take the path into the woods on the right. From there it is a short walk up along the brook. The falls are on town forest land, not private property, and the trail has no handicap access.
When to go
May to October is the recommended season. From April through October the path doubles as a Valley Quest, with clues to follow along the way.
On site
The pool below the main drop is shallow, making swimming poor, though children often splash in it in summer. Dogs are allowed. Open fires are prohibited, and most of the forest has no cell service. The gorge rim is a real hazard: in May 2021 a 12-year-old boy slipped near the falls and dropped about 30 feet into the ravine, and rescuers had to haul him out with a rope pulley. He survived with head cuts. The rocks are slippery, so stay back from the edge.
History and name
Cave Falls is an alternative name.
Nearby
The Cascade on Big Brook is about 1.6 miles away, Tillson Falls about 3 miles away across the state line in New Hampshire, and Covered Bridge Falls on the Ompompanoosuc River about 7.6 miles.
Distances are straight-line.