Grafton Notch State Park and Step Falls, ME

   

Screw Auger Falls

One of the places I've always wanted to go was Grafton Notch State Park in ME. As a map nerd, I'd seen it in the ME Atlas and tried to figure out a way to work it into a vacation for years. It however, always seemed too far from anywhere else I was going. I went up to NH/ME border last week and one day I fished Lake Umbagog. I used GPS and assumed it was going to take me past Gorham/Berlin and up Rt 16. GPS had other plans and when I punched in the Umbagog boat ramp it had me go east into Maine for twenty miles and then up Rt 26. I was pleasantly surprised to find out my campsite was only an hour from the boat ramp. 

   While on Rt 26 I passed Grafton Notch State Park. I had no idea that was going to happen. There were pulloffs for Screw Auger Falls, Moose Cave, and Mother Walker Falls. Instantly I realized I would be back when Laurie came up from Friday night until Tuesday for the holiday weekend. I didn't go exploring these sites figuring it would be more fun with Laurie. I kept driving to Umbagog where I only caught six Smallmouth Bass.  

 

 So on Saturday, which was definitely the best weather day of the trip, Laurie and I left for Grafton Notch about 7 am.  We knew that this would only be a half day trip and we did have plans for the afternoon to explore a Presidential Range lake We drove to the furthest pull off  first and worked our way back. So we went to Mother Walker Falls. It was tough to get a good look at the falls because of the vegetation. 

  Next we went to Moose Cave. This wasn't much either. It was pretty much just a triangular hole in a piece of granite. I thought at this point we'd be driving back by 9 am. I was getting worried that Laurie would wonder what the hell I dragged her all this way for.

Calling Moose Cave a cave is like calling your
cereal bowl a canyon

   Next we went to Screw Auger Falls. I swear I've been to what feels like a Screw Auger Falls in every state. I'm pretty sure this is the second one I've been to in Maine. Despite the lazy naming, Screw Auger was quite attractive. There are two falls with a twist in the river between them. there are multiple sunny ledges and view points to enjoy the waterfall. Since we were way ahead of any planned schedule, we stayed over a half hour.

  On our way to Grafton Notch  we saw a land trust property called Step Falls. We decided to check it out on our way back. Since our three roadside stops had taken us less than an hour we had plenty of time. The property is owned by the Mahoosuc Land Trust. It was a mile round trip to the falls. We really didn't know what to expect. We walked down a wide pine covered trail to the water. The trail did have a lot of roots so we had to watch our step, but we were at the river's edge in about ten minutes. 

   

For perspective, there is a 
woman in blue about 2/3
the way up in the photo.
Step Falls

   The stop was pleasantly surprising. The reason the falls is called Step Falls was because the river drops over a hundred feet in steps. The steps are not far apart and it is almost one big waterfall because of the steepness of the hill. The largest step which is near the top is about twenty feet. The trail parallels the river the whole way to the top of the falls. There are plenty of side shoots that bring you to the river.

   We stopped at most of the steps and enjoyed each fall. It was a short but steep climb to the top of the falls.  We stayed at the biggest fall for fifteen minutes. There were many people at the falls but it never felt crowded. If we saw people at one plunge pool we just moved up to the next one. 

   When we came down the parking lot on this beautiful Saturday was just about full. Google says it does fill up on nice weekends. I can see why. Step Falls absolutely made our foray into western Maine well worth the trip. A combined trip to Grafton Notch and Step Falls just a few miles away was one of the few highlights we had on this rainy holiday weekend.