Kinsman Falls

Kinsman Falls is a named waterfall on Cascade Brook, uphill from The Basin along the Basin-Cascades Trail. It is the first named fall on the walk and a good add-on if you have already stopped at The Basin; two smaller cascades come before it. The falls are about half a mile uphill from The Basin, with extra walking from the parking areas.

Use the Basin parking areas on either side of I-93, follow the signed route to The Basin, then keep climbing beside the brook. The extension is short but rooted and uneven, with slick rocks near the water. The falls can be seen from the trail; reaching the pool requires a rough, slippery scramble. There is no potable water at the Basin Cascade trailhead, so bring what you need.

A smaller cascade sits just above the main drop, which squeezes through a narrow bedrock cleft into a boulder-lined pool. Cascade Brook swells with spring runoff and recent rain, while dry weather softens the flow. For a photo, include both cleft walls and the pool to show the tight drop in context; the trail-side view avoids the rough descent to the water.

Older accounts also call the falls Tunnel Falls or Basin Falls, names tied to the narrow rock passage and pool below. Kinsman Falls is separate from The Basin itself, a pothole on the Pemigewasset beside the road; the waterfall lies farther uphill on Cascade Brook.