Screw Auger Falls is a 45-foot tiered waterfall on Gulf Hagas Brook, a tributary of the West Branch Pleasant River, at the lower end of Gulf Hagas in Piscataquis County, Maine. The Gulf is a slate gorge about three miles long with walls over 100 feet high, and this fall is the first of its waterfalls on the standard hike in.
The falls
The falls drop in two plunges of about 20 feet each, with the upper drop roughly 80 feet upstream of the lower, so the two can't be seen together. A series of three falls forms as the Rim Trail descends along the brook; Screw Auger is the middle one, and the lowest sits on a 200-yard side trail.
Getting there
Gulf Hagas lies on Appalachian Trail corridor land owned by the National Park Service and managed by the Maine Appalachian Trail Club with KI Jo-Mary, Inc. The access roads are private, unpaved logging roads where trucks have the right-of-way. Visitors pay a day-use fee at the Katahdin Iron Works checkpoint (from Brownville Junction) or the Hedgehog checkpoint (from Greenville): $18 per person, or $13 for Maine residents, with those under 18 and 70 and older free. Checkpoints take only cash or checks and are staffed 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
From the West Branch Pleasant River parking area, the trail fords the river for about 150 feet in knee- to thigh-deep water, then follows the Appalachian Trail through the Hermitage, a grove of old white pines, to Gulf Hagas Brook and the start of the Rim Trail. The walk to Screw Auger Falls is 3.5 to 4 miles round trip. When the river is high, the route from the Hay Brook parking area avoids the ford.
When to go
The checkpoint fee season runs May through October, with heavy use on weekends between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The river ford becomes impassable during spring snowmelt and after heavy rain, and Gulf Hagas Brook, usually a rock-hop, turns into a ford of its own in high water.
On site
The trip to Gulf Hagas Brook and Screw Auger Falls is suitable for families with young children, while hikers who push on around the Rim Trail have been lost, hurt or exhausted; sturdy boots are recommended over sandals or sneakers. Dogs must be leashed. Camping and fires are prohibited in the Gulf, and cell service is very unreliable.
History and name
Log drives once ran through the gorge. The origin of the fall's name isn't documented.
Nearby
The Rim Trail continues upstream past the Gulf's other falls. Hammond Street Pitch is about 0.4 mile away, The Jaws about 0.8 mile, Buttermilk Falls about 1.2 miles and Hay Brook Falls about 1.4 miles.
Distances are straight-line.