Gulf Hagas: the 400-foot Maine gorge with five waterfalls and no phone signal

It’s called the Grand Canyon of the East

You can hike for hours along the rim of a 400-foot gorge in Maine’s north woods and never see another person.

Gulf Hagas cuts three miles through ancient slate, carved by the West Branch of the Pleasant River, and most people have never heard of it.

The canyon has five named waterfalls, swimming holes cold enough to make you gasp, and rock walls that nearly touch in places. No cell towers reach here.

No crowds line the overlooks. What you get instead is worth the drive on that dirt road.

Slate older than dinosaurs lines every wall

The rock in Gulf Hagas is slate, formed hundreds of millions of years ago.

Water flowing beneath the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the last ice age gouged the initial channel, and the Pleasant River has kept cutting deeper ever since.

In the 1800s, loggers drove timber straight through the gorge toward the Katahdin Iron Works, and they gave most of the waterfalls the names you still see on trail signs today.

Native people lived, hunted, and fished in this area long before any logger arrived. The canyon earned National Natural Landmark status in 1968.

Eight miles of trail hug the canyon’s edge

The Rim Trail follows the gorge so closely that you look straight down into the slate walls and rushing water below. The full loop runs about eight miles, with side paths that add distance if you want to explore more.

The trail is rocky and rolls through constant short climbs and descents, so your legs will feel it. If you want an easier return, the Tote Road runs flat and parallel to the rim.

Every quarter mile or so, another waterfall pulls you to the edge.

Screw Auger Falls drops into a dark swimming hole

Most hikers call this the best stop on the whole loop. Water plunges about 25 feet into a deep pool ringed by tall rock walls.

The color of the water runs almost black from the slate beneath it. On a warm summer day, you can take a steep side path down to the pool and swim.

The cold hits you fast, but once you’re in, you float between those slate walls and look straight up at the sky.

Buttermilk Falls froths white across flat rocks

Near the halfway point of the loop, the river spreads wide and foams over a broad cascade. The water churns white, which is how it got the name.

Flat rocks at the base give you a place to sit, eat lunch, and watch the current pour into a deep pool below. If you packed sandwiches, this is the spot.

The sound of the water fills the gorge here, and the mist keeps the air cool even in July.

Billings Falls pours off a cliff you can see from above

The trail brings you to the top of Billings Falls, where a heavy rush of water drops over high cliffs. You can photograph the falls from the rim, but the drop-offs are steep enough to make your stomach tighten.

Stand well back from the edge. On hot days, some hikers work their way down to the base for a swim.

The view from above gives you one of the clearest looks at just how deep this canyon cuts.

Stair Falls tumbles down like a giant stone staircase

Higher up in the gorge, the river drops over a series of ledges that look like oversized steps. The water spreads thin across each tier and pools between them.

Stair Falls runs gentler than the bigger cascades downstream, and you can wade into the shallow pools near the base without fighting a current.

Fewer hikers stop here, so you might get the whole spot to yourself. The sound is softer too, more of a steady pour than a roar.

Two rock walls nearly touch at The Jaws

At one point in the canyon, the slate walls squeeze so close together that the river barely fits between them. This is The Jaws, one of the narrowest spots in the entire gorge.

Loggers in the 1800s blasted the gap wider so they could float timber through. Even after that work, the passage looks tight enough to make you hold your breath.

Standing above it, you can see how the current accelerates as it funnels through that slim opening.

Hammond Street Pitch plunges 100 feet straight down

The cliff at Hammond Street Pitch drops roughly 100 feet to the river, and the view opens in both directions along the canyon.

You can see the water snaking through slate walls upstream and downstream from this single point.

It is one of the deepest sections in the gorge, and standing near the edge puts the full scale of Gulf Hagas in front of you. Stay well back.

The rock here is exposed and the footing gets uneven close to the rim.

Old-growth pines tower 120 feet at The Hermitage

Before you reach the canyon, the trail passes through The Hermitage, a grove of old-growth white pine trees. Some of these pines stand about 120 feet tall, and they are among the last of their kind left in New England.

The canopy blocks most of the sunlight, so the air drops a few degrees and the ground stays soft with needles. After miles of open cliff edges, the shade and quiet feel like a different forest entirely.

Swimming holes stay cold even in August

Several of the falls have deep pools at their base, and the water stays cold all summer. The pool at Screw Auger Falls draws the most swimmers, but you can find spots near Buttermilk and Billings Falls too.

Watch your footing on the rocks around the pools because the slate gets slippery when wet.

No lifeguards work out here, and the nearest help is a long hike and a dirt road away, so step carefully and swim with a partner.

Moose country with no signal and frozen falls in winter

Gulf Hagas sits within the 100-Mile Wilderness, the loneliest stretch of the Appalachian Trail. Your phone will not find a signal out here.

Moose, white-tailed deer, and brook trout share the woods and water around you, and long-distance hikers finishing the AT often pass through on their way to Katahdin.

Fall turns the canyon walls into a corridor of bright leaves. Winter freezes the waterfalls into columns of blue ice.

Expert paddlers sometimes run the whitewater, but the river is not for casual boaters.

Hit the trails at Gulf Hagas in Maine

You reach Gulf Hagas by driving through the old Katahdin Iron Works site on a dirt logging road. The nearest towns are Greenville to the west and Brownville and Milo to the east.

Stop at the North Maine Woods gate to register and pay a day-use fee. Rates change, and you may need cash or a check, so confirm current prices before you go.

Late spring through early fall is the best window. Bring water shoes for the river crossing, sturdy boots, food, water, bug spray, and a paper map.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• This 78-mile Maine road hides a painted secret inside a plain white church
• No roads. No cell service. No gift shops. This is Maine’s wildest corner, by law
• Maine has a glacier-carved notch with waterfalls, a 4,170-foot peak, and almost no crowds