Huntington Gorge is as famous for its swimming holes as it is for its frightening death toll racked up in the last half-century. A sign at the falls indicates the tragic fates of almost two dozen visitors over the last sixty years. With some common sense, and some careful scouting, visitors can bypass the obvious dangers here, and enjoy the popular swimming holes and marvel at the gorge and falls. The gorge attracts some of the craziest personalities. We have seen many young adults leaping off sloping gorge walls, and others diving into swimming pools not nearly deep enough to warrant safe diving practices. For falls, the gorge has many small treasures, approximately half of which can be seen at each vantage point. There is also one main horsetail falling into the pool at the end of the gorge. The currents between the falls continue through the popular swimming pools within the gorge. We urge you to bypass these dangerous spots and restrict swimming to the large channel below the bottom falls. The area also happens to be a little history regarding this waterfall. By 1802, a grist mill opened at the site, and operated continuously for over a century. The Richmond Light and Power Company converted the mill in 1903 to generate electricity for the nearby villages. Nowadays, the gorge lies in its natural state, with evidence of past use nearly non-existent. Make sure to plan on spending hours at Huntington Gorge, and many more if you visit the other must see waterfall of the area, The Potholes and Honey Hollow Falls.

Several very short trails begin about 200 feet further up the road (downstream) of the parking area and lead to views of the falls and gorge. Once you reach the gorge, it is fairly easy to explore the entire area, including the large pool at the base of the lowermost falls. Swimming here is almost never completely safe due to the normal high flow of the river, so do so at your own risk.

Directions for this particular waterfall are not posted online. Please see directions in our published guidebook, New England Waterfalls: A Guide to More Than 400 Cascades And Waterfalls, or you can email us and we will happily provide them to you.

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