Cataracts, The is a waterfall on Frye Brook in Oxford County, Maine, in the Northeastern Highlands region, with a total height of about 90 feet. It lies about 16.3 miles west of Rumford and roughly 74 miles northwest of Portland as the crow flies.
At 90 feet it stands in the tallest quarter of Maine’s 80 waterfalls with a recorded height, ranking 15th; the typical Maine waterfall is about 29 feet. The tallest single drop is 50 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.
There are 34 recorded waterfalls in Oxford County. Dunn Falls, a 129-foot tiered waterfall, is about 2.4 miles away. Waterfall 15 mi NE of Milan, is about 2.6 miles away. Step Falls, a 160-foot cascade waterfall, is about 4.3 miles away.
Cataracts, The is located at 44.6382° N, 70.8606° 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.