Cascade Falls, Saco

Wow — a real, splashy, loud waterfall you can take your guests to when you want to impress them with Maine’s beauty! This is a popular spot, with a large parking area.

But the charms of the preserve extend beyond the 20-foot horsetail waterfall (it looks bigger than this!) There’s also a wheelchair-accessible path to an open area by the brook, with a picnic table next to a footbridge to the falls. The roar of the waterfall saturates the air here. Children can also build an enchanted twig dwelling at the Fairy House Village, and artists can add painted rocks to a growing rock snake called Ruby. All of these sites are accessible via the wide lavendar-blazed Trout Pond Loop trail, which is surfaced with stone dust.

Off the Trout Pond Loop, you’ll find the yellow-blazed Brookside Trail, which is not accessible but follows the Cascade Brook for a short way as burbles and weaves through the forest. I highly recommend this section of the trail system.

For viewing the falls, there are two good vantage points. I recommend first heading along the Falls View Trail, reached via the pedestrian bridge, for the more spectacular of the two sites for watching the water tumble down. Then if you need more action, you can check out the falls from the other side of the on the steep but graded Ledge Trail.

Directions: From downtown Saco, take Route 1 north to Cascade Road (Route 98). Take a right onto Cascade Road; go about 1/4 mile and turn left into the large parking lot.