After Lower Fall and Rocky Gorge, we continued on the Kancamagus Scenic Byway (NH Route 112). Nicknamed ‘The Kanc,’ this 34.5-mile highway offers scenic stops in the White Mountain National Forest from Conway to Lincoln.
It is free to drive the highway, but some stops have $5 daily fee. If you have an America the Beautiful pass, you can use it instead of the fee. Sabbaday is a fee area. On weekends and during peak season for fall colors, this is an extremely popular tourist destination. Be prepared for heavy traffic.
Sabbaday Falls
From the parking lot, take the short 0.3-mile hike through the forest. The dirt-and-gravel trail has even terrain with a slight uphill climb.
A spur path to the left will bring you to the base of the falls. From here you see the emerald lower pool, the flume, and the lower falls. Swimming is not allowed.
Take the stone steps up to the elevated gravel walkway next to the falls. The walkway follows the flow of the gorge with several small stair climbs and a bridge over the gorge near the upper basin.
From the brook at the top, the short upper cascade flows through a shallow basin before a longer drop.
It is at this longer drop that the falls turn sharply due to a fault in the basalt gorge.
Sabbaday Falls is a 45-foot total drop over its multiple cascades.
At the top of the waterfall, the walkway turns away from the brook to loop back to the trailhead. Along the trail there are information signs explaining the history and geology of the falls.
At the parking lot are restrooms and picnic tables to rest and enjoy the scenery.
History of the Falls
According to signs along the trail, one Saturday night road workers decided to call it quits for the winter. Before they left the next morning, they named the brook they stopped near Sabbaday Brook for the Sabbath Day or “Sabbaday.”
In 1880, a local farmer and hotel owner earned extra money by blazing trails for the Appalachian Mountain Club. He cut this trail along the Swift River from his hotel to Sabbaday Falls.
Looking for more New Hampshire waterfalls? There are dozens in the White Mountain National Forest.
I’ve camped in New Hamphire, never hiked. That’s how I missed the falls. The picture of the road looks like a perfect hiking trail. It’s beautiful,