Great Falls
Connecticut · 49-foot drop · Last verified 2026-05-15
Flow at Great Falls is 332 cfs today, around its seasonal average.
Right now
Streamflow
332 cfs
HOUSATONIC RIVER AT FALLS · 1h ago
Overnight
59°F
Patchy Fog
Sunday
77°F
Mostly Sunny then Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms
Today's daylight
Sunrise 5:18 AM · Sunset 8:26 PM · 15h 8m
Snapshot built 15m ago. Sources: USGS · NWS ALY.
Great Falls is a waterfall in Northwest Hills County, Connecticut. It drops roughly 49 feet. Access details and conditions have not yet been verified in person by Fallspots — the data on this page comes from OpenStreetMap and USGS GNIS.
Great Falls is a waterfall formed along the Housatonic River at Falls Village in the town of Canaan amidst Connecticut's Litchfield Hills. Great Falls is the highest volume waterfall in the state, though a great deal of its potential water volume is diverted immediately upstream during most of the year for hydro-electric power generation.
Is the water flowing right now?
Most waterfall sites don't tell you this. The waterfall itself is almost never gauged, but a USGS streamgage in the same watershed can tell you whether snowmelt has started, peaked, or run dry.
USGS gage 01199000 · 0.4 mi away
HOUSATONIC RIVER AT FALLS VILLAGE, CT
View live discharge data →
30-day streamflow
Below 30-day average↻ Same date last year: 1,180 cfs · 28% of last year — significantly drier
When to go (from the climate data, not our opinion)
Monthly averages from Open-Meteo's reanalysis dataset (2020–2024). Highlighted months are when we think the waterfall is at its best — but the numbers are the numbers regardless.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip (in) | Snow days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36 | 22 | 3.7 | 13.2 |
| Feb | 39 | 22 | 2.8 | 11 |
| Mar | 48 | 29 | 4.4 | 7.6 |
| Apr | 57 | 38 | 4.3 | 4 |
| May | 69 | 48 | 3.6 | 0.4 |
| Jun | 79 | 58 | 2.8 | 0 |
| Jul | 83 | 65 | 5.7 | 0 |
| Aug | 80 | 63 | 3.6 | 0 |
| Sep | 72 | 56 | 5.9 | 0 |
| Oct | 62 | 46 | 3.6 | 0.2 |
| Nov | 50 | 35 | 2.9 | 4.6 |
| Dec | 41 | 27 | 4.8 | 8.4 |
Source: Open-Meteo Historical Weather API · ERA5 reanalysis 2020–2024.
Compare to nearby falls
If this one isn't the right fit, here's how it stacks up against the closest documented falls. Every column is filterable on the site — not buried in 13,000 reviews.
| Waterfall | Distance | Height | Trail | Dogs | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Falls (this page) | — | 49 ft | — | — | — |
| Dean's Ravine Falls | 3 mi | 49 ft | — | — | Free |
| Cascade | 3 mi | — | — | — | Free |
| Riga Falls | 5 mi | 26 ft | — | — | — |
| Pothole Falls | 6 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Sages Ravine Brook Falls | 7 mi | — | — | — | — |
Related waterfalls
Similar height (~49 ft)
- Bozen KIll Falls49 ft
- Bridal Veil Falls49 ft
- Campbell Falls49 ft
- Dean's Ravine Falls49 ft
- Great Falls49 ft
Questions visitors ask about Great Falls
Answers built from our structured data. If a question isn't here, the fact is unverified — we'd rather omit than guess.
How tall is Great Falls?
Great Falls is 49 feet (15 m) tall. Height is sourced from OSM.
How far is Great Falls from a major city?
Great Falls is 1 miles from Falls Village (about 1 minutes' drive).
More waterfalls in Connecticut
Where it is
41.9626, -73.3721
Sources and live status
Where we got the data, and where to check current conditions before you drive.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Falls_(Housatonic_River)
Wikidata (Q22058797)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q22058797
GeoNames (4835291)
https://www.geonames.org/4835291/
Last verified by Fallspots: 2026-05-15
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