Member Trip report

Lower & Upper Hastings Falls

07/10/2021

Trip Report/Photos from BillyB1976

Featured Photo

I've known about these waterfalls for a number of years, but had not been to them.  Thanks to Elsa and the rain she brought, I figured it was finally time to go check them out.  The falls are 70 miles from home, but still in Aroostook County, and a 70-mile drive isn't really all that far of a drive to me. 

I knew the lower falls was the most popular and thought it was only a short walk from a woods road.  Well, when I arrived at the road to turn on to get to the falls a gate blocked my way!  So, what I thought was going to be a short round trip hike of 0.6 miles ended up being a 4.5-mile hike.  Granted it was easy because most of it was a road walk, but it was unexpected, and no shade walking the road.

It took 35 min. to get to the falls.  There is one big drop with some rapids for a distance above the falls.  As I thought, there was plenty of water.  After going to the falls I decided to follow an ATV trail that went beyond the falls and ran close to the stream.  I came to a small brook that was raging with water that the trail forded.   I decided not to cross, but I could hear what sounded like a waterfall so I followed the brook a short distance from the trail and there was indeed a small waterfall before the brook entered the larger stream.  If it weren't for the heavy rain the night and day before, this waterfall would probably be a dud! 

After returning to the ATV trail at the ford I could hear an engine.  There was a 4-wheeler on the other side of the brook coming across, and behind that was a side x side.  It was a group going to the lower falls.  Come to find out there is another access point that I was unaware of, and only about a 1 mile walk to the falls.

I turned around and headed back to the gate.  My total hike was time was 2 hours 40 minutes.

The upper falls are 1 mile upstream, but not easily accessible from the lower falls.

There is a woods road that comes to within 0.5 miles of the upper falls, so I decided to use that as my access point.  I hiked an overgrown winter road for a short distance and came to skidder/harvester trails that I followed to the upper falls.  This was literally a bushwhack through raspberry bushes which are common in cutover areas.  The nicest part of the hike was the last 200 or so feet before the falls, which hadn't been cutover.  I was aware of the conditions I'd have to deal with prior to the hike, but I wore shorts anyway because it was a warm day.  My legs show the results!  It took me 22 minutes to reach the falls.  Although the upper falls isn't as big as the lower falls, it is still a nice spot and was worth the hike.  I'd say very few humans visit the upper falls.  My total hike time for the upper falls was 1 hour 10 minutes. 

Even with the longer hike to the lower falls and the scratches on my legs from the hike to the upper falls, it was a good day.  A little warm but not too hot, and plenty of sunshine. 

  There are 35 photos in Album (Note: Move mouse pointer over larger pic and click on NEXT for better viewing)

Gandalf Posted Jul 12, 2021 at 8:17 AM

Wow, looks like a blast!

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