About Snow Falls
Snow Falls was actually an unexpected waterfall we stumbled upon on a day when we had to improvise our itinerary after the US Government Shutdown nixed our plans to go to Acadia National Park in Maine.
So as an alternative, we headed to Portland, Maine, and on the way south from Dunn Falls, that was when we accidentally encountered this roadside waterfall.
I guess you could say that if it wasn’t for the government shutdown, we would’ve bypassed this waterfall (as well as the charming city of Portland, ME) altogether.
Sometimes you have to make lemonade out of lemons, but sometimes, they just come to you unexpectedly.
Anyways, Snow Falls featured a sloping cascade with about a 25ft drop.
Further downstream, the waterfall spilled into a serene and photogenic lake fringed by some foliage with Autumn colors.
Experiencing Snow Falls
From the well-signposted and well-established parking and picnic area for the rest stop (see directions below), I was able to descend towards a bridge spanning the Little Androscoggin River.
At that bridge, I managed to get the view you see pictured at the top of this page.
Tall fencing was erected to keep people from getting into the gorge below (especially youngsters and/or daredevils with distorted risk/reward wiring).
Thus, I have to believe that this was a pretty family friendly spot though such infrastructure also limited the places to take decent Snow Falls photos without the fencing in it.
Looking downstream on the other side of the bridge, I managed to get a good look at the pretty lake at the bottom of Snow Falls, but I was also looking against the early afternoon sun.
As for the waterfall’s flow, it was still going pretty strong even though it was well into the Autumn season.
Thus, I’d imagine that Snow Falls could easily have year-round flow.
As I continued to explore the area on the far side of the bridge, I noticed that there was another waterfall that appeared to drain some kind of man-made diversion channel.
While the waterfall looked attractive, I doubted that it was legitimate due to the water diversion.
There was also some kind of infrastructure above it (i.e. an old wall with windows) so I’d imagine there must’ve been some kind of history here (though I can’t comment any more on it).
The trail continued to go further upstream past the top of Snow Falls towards some calmer parts of the river.
However, I only went as far as the top of the falls so I wouldn’t know where that trail went nor what it had to offer.
Authorities
Snow Falls resides near Paris in Oxford County, Maine. To my knowledge, it is likely administered by the town of Paris. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.
As mentioned above, we found Snow Falls while doing the long drive from Andover, Maine down to Portland, Maine.
The drive was roughly 93 miles taking well over 2.5 hours or so.
In any case, the well-signed rest area was about 2.2 miles south of the Route 26 / 216 junction in the town of West Paris.
The parking pullouts were on the right as we were heading south.
Heading in the other direction, Snow Falls was about 5.8 miles north along the Hwy 26 of the Hwy 119 and Hwy 26 junction in the twin towns of Norway and Paris, ME.
Going in this direction, the rest area would be on the left.
To give you some context, the town of Andover, Maine was 85 miles (about 2 hours drive) northwest from Portland, Maine and 72 miles (over 90 minutes drive) northeast from North Conway, New Hampshire.
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Top down sweep following the cascade beneath the footbridge
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