About Glen Ellis Falls
Glen Ellis Falls was an attractive waterfall that I tried to squeeze in late in the day while the sun hadn’t quite set yet.
Even with my late start on the hike just before 5pm in October, I was still surprised at how many cars were at the trailhead and how many people were also sharing the trail with me.
If it was this busy so late in the day, I could only imagine how much busier it would be during the height of the day.
So the lesson learned here was that this must be one of the more popular spots near the Mt Washington / North Conway area of New Hampshire.
I really didn’t have many expectations of this waterfall going into the hike as I didn’t know what it would look like prior to my visit.
But the apparent popularity of the Glen Ellis Falls was one indicator that I must’ve been in for a treat.
And when I finally got to see the falls in person, I realized that I was in front of a 64ft gusher that was likely to have year-round flow.
It featured attractive upper tiers as well as vistas of beautiful Autumn colors that literally engulfed the Pinkham Notch vicinity on the slopes of Mt Washington.
I could only imagine just how much more vibrant the colors would be if I had come here earlier in the day when the sun was out!
So in the end, I could totally see why this place was so popular.
Hiking to Glen Ellis Falls
From the trailhead (see directions below), signs pointed me to a path that took me beneath the Highway 16.
With the rather noisy start to the hike, I wondered if the waterfall experience would compete with the loud swooshing of cars and trucks zooming by above me.
But once I got to the other side of the highway, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the trail then followed along the Ellis River before veering further away from the highway.
Indeed, the further along the trail I went, the more the sounds of rushing water drowned out the highway sounds.
Soon, the trail was running alongside where the Ellis River spilled over a small cascade with three consecutive drops.
After a few minutes of walking further downstream, I found myself at a lookout right above the brink of the Glen Ellis Falls.
While the view of the falls wasn’t optimal at this point, I found the vista looking out further downstream towards the mountainsides of Autumn colors very rewarding.
Even though the sun didn’t bring out the vibrancy of the Autumn colors, I found the explosion of the muted colors still very beautiful.
Next, the trail descended on steps towards an intermediate overlook where I was able to get a little bit more of a glimpse of the Glen Ellis Falls.
However, it left me wanting more so I kept going down more stairs until the trail curved back around to the overlook right in front of its misty base.
It got a little bit crowded at this misty spot despite how late in the day it was, but I noticed it was possible to scramble onto the riverbed just beneath the lookout deck.
This was the spot where I was able to get better and more direct views from the base of the Glen Ellis Falls in relative solitude.
The only catch here was that the rocks were indeed slippery so I exercised extreme caution in making sure that I was as far away from the running water as possible.
Given the low light of the waning day, I was glad that I brought my tripod to take photos from here.
There also appeared to be additional lower tiers further downstream from this viewing area, but that tier didn’t look like it was safely photographable from its front.
So when I had my fill of the main drop of Glen Ellis Falls, I headed back up to the parking area.
Overall, I did the entire 0.6-mile round trip hike solo and it only took me about 35 minutes total, including all the stops.
Authorities
Glen Ellis Falls resides in the White Mountain National Forest near North Conway in Carroll County, New Hampshire. It is administered by the US Forest Service. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website or Facebook page.
To reach Glen Ellis Falls from where the Hwy 16 and Hwy 302 meet at the southern end of North Conway, we followed the White Mountain Hwy (Hwy 302) north for about 8 miles.
At the traffic light where Hwy 302 and Hwy 16 split up once again, we turned right to stay continue on Hwy 16.
Then, we followed Hwy 16 north for about 11 miles (passing through Jackson) until there’s a signposted turnoff on the left for Glen Ellis Falls.
Be aware that this turnoff was easy to miss given the speed that we had to move on this highway.
So if we happened to see the AMC Pinkham Notch Visitor Center on our left another 0.6 miles further, then we had missed the correct turnoff and would have to use this turnoff to turn around.
That said, that mistake could compel us to do the Crystal Cascade hike first before doing the Glen Ellis Falls hike.
Anyways, once we were on the correct road, it looped back towards the trailhead and parking lot for Glen Ellis Falls.
For geographical context, North Conway was 11 miles west of Fryeburg, Maine, 42 miles (over an hour drive) east of Lincoln, 63 miles (90 minutes drive) northwest of Portland, Maine, 136 miles (over 2.5 hours drive) north of Boston, Massachusetts, and 214 miles (over 3.5 hours drive) southeast of Montreal, QC, Canada.
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Top down sweep of the uppermost cascades ending downstream at the explosion of Fall foliage
Right to left sweep of the Autumn foliage at the top of the falls before looking down at the falls itself
Top down sweep from right in front of the falls
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