Screw Auger Falls is a 43-foot tiered waterfall on the Bear River in Grafton Notch State Park, Oxford County, Maine, where the river plunges into a narrow, fenced rock gorge a short walk from Route 26. The site has roadside parking, picnic areas and a path onto the bedrock above the gorge.
The falls
A survey in person counts four drops totaling 43 feet. Earlier surveys listed six drops. An upper tier spills about 12 feet over a broad ledge, sometimes in two channels. After an S-bend the river drops three more times in quick succession, the middle one a clean 18-foot plunge. Round potholes pit the gorge walls and floor, some with boulders inside that are still grinding them deeper. The notch is traced to glaciers and the potholes to stones swirled by the current.
Getting there
The signed parking area is beside Route 26 about a mile west of the park's eastern entrance. A walk of about 100 yards along the fenced gorge over bare bedrock leads to the viewpoint. Grafton Notch day use costs $4 for nonresident adults and $3 for Maine residents, paid at a self-service fee station; children 5 to 11 pay $1 and those under 5 are free.
When to go
The Bear River drains a 6.5-square-mile basin here, and flow is best during spring snowmelt. Autumn foliage is also recommended. Winter trails in the park are not groomed.
On site
The fence keeps visitors back from the sheer walls, so the falls are seen from above. Wading in the shallow pools with close supervision of children is allowed; going near the lip is not. On August 13, 2025, a 21-year-old man fell 25 to 30 feet from a ledge into the gorge; rescuers carried him about 300 feet downstream through the water before a helicopter flew him to hospital. Dogs must be leashed and attended. Accessible parking, toilets and picnic tables are provided, but assisted access reaches only the first small falls, not the main drops.
Nearby
Jail Falls on the Bear River and Paine Creek Falls are each about 0.4 mile away. Mother Walker Falls, in a boulder gorge farther along the Bear River, is about 1.1 miles away, and Step Falls on Wight Brook about 1.8 miles.
Distances are straight-line.