Champney Falls is a 117-foot tiered waterfall on Champney Brook in Carroll County, New Hampshire, within the White Mountain National Forest.
The falls
Champney Brook drops through a granite gully in six steep, tiered cascades and veils, on a 260-foot run at an average 65-degree pitch, measured in an October 2023 in-person survey. The descent breaks into a 74-foot upper section of several steps, a roughly 20-foot second fall and a 23-foot final ledge. Runoff feeds the brook from an estimated 0.45-square-mile drainage basin, and flow was seasonally reduced when surveyed.
Getting there
The White Mountain National Forest's Saco Ranger District manages the site; the trailhead sits on the Kancamagus Highway, about 10 miles west of Route 16. The falls loop branches off the main trail at 1.4 miles and rejoins it after another 0.3 mile, crossing three unbridged streams along the way. The trailhead is open 24 hours a day, with vault toilets but no potable water. Champney Falls is a year-round fee site; the forest accepts day, annual and Interagency passes, with the day pass put at $5 per vehicle.
When to go
Snowmelt produces the fullest flow; an October 2023 visit found the falls running at a seasonally reduced level.
On site
The falls loop crosses unbridged streams and rock stairs and is exposed to mountain weather. The trailhead draws heavy use, but the Forest Service has not published a wheelchair-accessible route to the falls.
Nearby
Pitcher Falls is about 0.1 mile away, Rocky Gorge on the Swift River about 2.2 miles, and Paugus Falls about 2.8 miles.
Distances are straight-line.