Member Trip report
Lower & Upper Hastings Falls
07/10/2021
Trip Report/Photos from BillyB1976
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.
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Wow, looks like a blast!