Arethusa Falls is a 155-foot horsetail waterfall on Bemis Brook in Crawford Notch State Park, New Hampshire, in the town of Hart's Location in the White Mountains. Wikipedia calls it the tallest single-drop waterfall in the state, and a steady 1.5-mile climb from US 302 leads to its base.
The falls
Bemis Brook slides down a steep face of reddish granite as a veiling horsetail, spreading up to 70 feet wide over the rock. A lidar survey puts the height at about 155 feet, counting a short sliding cascade above the vertical section. The brook drains 0.9 square miles and carries about 10 cubic feet per second at high flow and 1 at low.
Getting there
The Arethusa Falls Trail starts from a large lot off US 302, half a mile south of Dry River Campground and midway between Bartlett and the Gates of the Notch. The walk is 1.5 miles each way with about 800 feet of gain; the first stretch is rocky and moderately steep. A hiker in June 2026 reported a $5 per-car parking fee, an outhouse at the far end of the lower lot, easy rock-hop crossings of small brooks, and missing trail signs with faded blazes near the parking area.
When to go
Flow is strongest with spring snowmelt and holds up through early autumn; by September the brook can shrink to a trickle. In winter the Arethusa lot is plowed, with no facilities.
On site
The trail ends at the base of the falls. Leashed dogs are allowed throughout Crawford Notch State Park, and drones are prohibited. The footing is rough: in August 2025, a hiker who injured her ankle about a mile from the trailhead had to be carried out by litter.
History and name
The falls were once called Tuckerman Falls. Moses Sweetser and J. H. Huntington renamed them Arethusa in 1875, after the nymph of Greek mythology.
Nearby
Bemis Brook Falls is about 0.7 mile away and Coliseum Falls about 0.9 mile, both on Bemis Brook. Ripley Falls, about 1 mile away on Avalanche Brook, can be added on the Arethusa-Ripley Falls Trail.
Distances are straight-line.