Waterfalls in Vermont

Vermont waterfalls: Green Mountain trails, roadside drops and 2026 conditions

Nearly every brook that drops off the Green Mountains in Vermont finds a ledge of resistant rock to fall over, which is why 230 named waterfalls turn up across this small state. The range runs north to south through the middle of Vermont, slightly west of center, and its hard rock holds up short drops in nearly every county. Most falls sit close to the mountains; the lower valleys toward Lake Champlain and the colder Northeast Kingdom add fewer.

Where the waterfalls are

The Green Mountains cross Addison, Bennington, Chittenden, Lamoille, Orleans, Rutland, Washington and Windham counties, and most of Vermont's falls sit on or below them. Washington County, around the Worcester Range and the Mad River Valley, has the most of any county with 41, followed by Addison County (27) on the range's western slope and Lamoille County (22) around Mount Mansfield and Stowe. Chittenden County and Franklin County, both with 21, slope down toward the Champlain Valley, while Rutland County (16) and Bennington County (9), at the range's southern end, hold the deeper hikes inside the Green Mountain National Forest. East of the mountains, Windsor County (16), Windham County (17) and Orange County (13) drain toward the Connecticut River, and in the far northeast the colder Northeast Kingdom counties of Caledonia County (16), Orleans County (8) and Essex County (3) add falls on rivers draining north toward Canada.

Waterfalls worth the trip

• Moss Glen Falls drops 112 feet over open ledges in Stowe; the short route from a small lot on Moss Glen Falls Road, off Route 100, is a 0.6-mile round trip with 150 feet of climbing.
• Bingham Falls tumbles 91 feet down six rock steps on the West Branch Waterbury River; a steep, quarter-mile descent from pullouts on Route 108 reaches the base, through a gorge the state bought in 2001.
• Hamilton Falls falls 104 feet in four tiers on Cobb Brook, though Vermont's own natural-area page gives 125. The sanctioned route is a 3-mile, one-way hike from Jamaica State Park; a handful of closer parking spots on West Windham Road are kept for hikers who can't make that walk.
• Lye Brook Falls, on national forest land near Manchester, measures 219 feet in its visible drop; the Forest Service's own trail guide gives 125 feet for the falls. Reaching it is a round trip of about 4.6 miles on the Lye Brook Trail with roughly 740 feet of climbing.
• Texas Falls drops 31 feet in three steps on Hancock Brook, an easy 1.2-mile loop with about 70 feet of climbing from a Green Mountain National Forest picnic ground off Route 125.
• Warren Falls steps down 20 feet on the Mad River in three short drops; a gently graded, 0.1-mile trail reaches an accessible overlook, and other marked paths lead down to the river's wading pools.
• Moss Glen Falls in Granville Gulf drops 68 feet in a single plunge next to Route 100; the footbridge that once brought hikers close to its base has been out since flood damage in July 2023, so most visitors now view it from the road shoulder.

When to go

Snowmelt and spring rain give Vermont's brook-fed falls their fullest flow from March into June; Hamilton Falls narrows a great deal once that runoff ends, while spring-fed drops like Texas Falls and the Granville Gulf Moss Glen Falls keep running through the year, just thinner in a dry summer. Winter closes what plowing doesn't reach: the access road to Lye Brook Falls near Manchester isn't plowed in winter, and Jamaica State Park, the trailhead for Hamilton Falls, is open only through October 12, 2026.

Fees, access and flood damage

Vermont State Parks charge $5 a day for visitors 14 and up and $2 for ages 4 to 13, with children under 4 free; a season vehicle pass costs $105 and an individual season pass $40. These rates have applied since July 2025 and cover Jamaica State Park, the gateway to Hamilton Falls. Green Mountain National Forest trailheads such as Lye Brook and Warren Falls charge nothing to park, and the picnic ground at Texas Falls is free without a reservation.

Flood damage from 2023 and 2024 is still being repaired. Sections of the Lye Brook Trail were being rebuilt in 2026 with federal emergency-road and FEMA-linked funds after back-to-back flood years damaged bridges and trail beds nearby. Abbey Pond Cascades, on national forest land near Middlebury, is currently closed.

Safety

Hamilton Falls has more than twelve deaths tied to swimming or wading in its upper and middle pools, which is why the state discourages entering the water there at all. Bingham Falls carries a similar hazard: its narrow channels create dangerous currents in the pools above the falls, and slipping near the edge can be fatal. Stay off wet ledges and out of pools where the current below a drop isn't visible from the bank.