Chasm Falls

Chasm Falls is a waterfall on Fall River tucked into a narrow granite cleft along Old Fall River Road. It's a good short stop if you're driving this historic road and want to see the water close up; the falls are modest compared with the park's larger cascades.

The Chasm Falls Trail is a 0.1-mile out-and-back, with about 40 dirt-and-rock steps down to the viewing platform. That's the close look into the rocky chute; from the trailhead, you see the falls from above. For a photo of the cleft, the lower platform gives the most direct view. The return climb is short but steep, and visitors report that the steps can be slick after rain.

Old Fall River Road was Rocky Mountain's first automobile route into the high country. It was built between 1913 and 1920, and the three-mile stretch to Chasm Falls was made by state-convict crews using hand tools.

The falls are about 1.4 miles up the road from Endovalley. Old Fall River Road is narrow, unpaved, steep and one-way uphill to Fall River Pass. It usually opens to vehicles in early July and closes in early to mid-October. When it's closed to cars, reaching the falls means about a 1.4-mile walk each way from Endovalley, and only when the road is open to pedestrians. Vehicles over 25 feet and vehicles towing trailers aren't allowed.