Bemis Brook Trail to Arethusa Falls is Moderate??

Tuesday July 25, 2023                                        Most Recent Posts:
Moose River Campground                   Time Goes By From Devil’s to Martin’s
St Johnsbury Vermont                                         Devil’s Hill Trail

Moose River Campground is very close to New Hampshire.  The state line is maybe 5 miles from here  Today I’m going over to Crawford’s Notch, a major

pass through the White Mountains.  
The Crawford’s Notch Depot  was built in 1891.  It’s on the National Register of Historic Places and is now a Visitor’s Center run by the Appalachian Mountain Club as well as the northern terminus of Notch Train Service of the Conway Scenic Railroad.   The building is Queen Anne and lovely.  I’d love to take the 4-5 hour train through the mountains from North Conway to here though I’m not sure I’ll manage to actually do it.

Today, I’m hiking.  There are tons of trails in Crawford Notch in New Hampshire.  I want to see Arethusa Falls “regarded by many as the best scenic waterfall in New Hampshire”.  There is a debate about how tall it is.  I’ve read it is 140’, 160’ and even 200’.   Tall is what I am expecting.

As the map shows, you can take the Arethusa Falls trail straight up or you can cut off to the left of that trail in .1 mile and take the Bemis Brook trail for a few more waterfalls.  No one mentioned how narrow and washed out and rooty the Bemis Brook Trail was. But I don’t think any of the reviews I read was done this year after all this rain.   I would never want small children on this trail.  I think the reviews saying it was a family hike are crazy

Since this is a hike in the White Mountains that means lots of rocks and gnarly tree roots as you can see in this picture at the trailhead.

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The Bemis Brook trail goes along the brook and has views of Fawn Pool, Coliseum Falls and Brook Falls as well as smaller cascades.

To see Fawn Pool I walked down here and up the rock face in the next picture.

The trail began to climb and got narrower and narrower with no fewer roots or rocks.  I just don’t see this as a family hike unless you are talking about much older children.

Here’s where the trail is right on the edge.  The ground slopes down sharply on the left.

And here.

I felt like I was walking on the side of the mountain and would not have wanted to be without a hiking pole.

I finally made it to Bemis Falls.

Bemis is a very lovely series of cascades.

And then it’s back on the trail over to join the Arethusa Falls Trail to the big falls.  Here things were no longer on the edge of the cliff but to say the terrain was difficult is an understatement and the climb was even steeper.  I heard some folks without hiking poles later say they had to use all 4 limbs to get up some sections here.

Have you ever seen a trail like this?  That yellow paint stripe is the trail marker. This was such a steep and rocky trail that without the yellow markers I would never have believed this was the trail.

This is about as easy as it got.  Sort of steps.

And of course no trail in rainy Vermont is without a lot of mud.  Here luckily there are boards.

My first sight on Arethusa Falls.  I hadn’t run into anyone on the trail up.  I guess those who were here when I arrived all knew to come straight up the Arethusa Falls Trail and skip Bemis Brook.

As I said I don’t see how Bemis can be a “family hike” but I’m glad I did it at least once to see the other water features.

Partially zoomed in for a better look.  I’m thinking New Hampshire has not had the same amount of rain as Vermont judging from the amount of water coming down from the head waters of Bemis Brook.  Notice the size of the people on the rocks below to judge the size of the waterfall for yourself.

I took this picture as I was preparing to figure out how to work my way closer to the falls over all these rocks when I heard a large group of people behind me and up came at least 25 middle schoolers from a girls camp.

They literally swarmed all over everywhere.   And shortly after them came another similar group and then another.  3 groups in all.  It felt like an invasion.  I gave up my idea of going closer to experience the falls and thought I could perhaps wait them out and then go.  I am known for my patience in waiting out other hikers at waterfalls. 

Here’s the not so hot selfie to prove I was here. I waited quite a while but they stayed to play, swim and have lunch.  I gave up on my desire to have some quiet time with the falls.  Guess I’ll have to come back but when to come  if swarms of campers show up on a Tuesday.

One last zoom cutting out all the people.

And finally for fungi lovers like me, here is some of what I saw while I was carefully watching my feet.  Click any photo to make it larger.