The Flume Gorge

About

The Flume Gorge is an 800-foot natural gorge in Franconia Notch State Park, at the base of Mount Liberty in Lincoln, New Hampshire. Granite walls rise 70 to 90 feet on either side, in places only 12 to 20 feet apart, and Flume Brook runs along the gorge floor.

The visit starts at the Flume Gorge Visitor Center, where exhibits explain the gorge's geology before you walk out to the Flume Covered Bridge, a span built in 1886 over the Pemigewasset River. From there, a self-guided loop of about two miles follows packed gravel paths and boardwalk sections along the brook, passing Avalanche Falls and several smaller cascades. The route includes moderate uphill sections and stairs inside the gorge itself, and most people finish the full loop in about 1.5 hours.

The visitor center has a gift shop, a snack bar, and restrooms, and is a reasonable place to rest before or after the walk. Sturdy shoes help on the gravel and wet boardwalk sections.

For the 2025 season the gorge is open May 8 through October 25, with extended hours of 9am to 5:30pm from July 3 through September 7. Adult admission is $18 online or $21 at the gate, children ages 6 to 12 are $16 online or $19 at the gate, and children under 5 are free. Reservations for a specific arrival window are recommended, since walk-up tickets cost more and are not guaranteed, especially during fall foliage.

The gorge sits inside Franconia Notch State Park, off Daniel Webster Highway (Route 3) near I-93 in Lincoln. The Basin, another waterfall and pool in the same park, involves less walking and fewer stairs than the gorge trail, and Franconia Notch's paved recreation trail nearby is flatter still.

Accessibility

The Flume Gorge is not fully wheelchair accessible. The two-mile self-guided loop starts on packed gravel and boardwalk near the visitor center, but it also has moderate uphill walking and stairs inside the narrower parts of the gorge, and the park does not describe any way around those stairs.

The walk begins at the Flume Gorge Visitor Center, which has exhibits, a gift shop, a snack bar, and restrooms. From the visitor center you cross the Flume Covered Bridge, and the path stays on gravel and boardwalk for a stretch before the gorge narrows and the boardwalk turns into staircases climbing past Avalanche Falls. Restrooms are also reachable from the back of the building, which can help if the front entrance is busy.

The park's own pages do not list accessible parking, wheelchair rentals, a service animal policy, or sensory accommodations for the gorge, so none of those should be assumed. For specifics, call the park office at (603) 745-8391 or email [email protected] before your visit, since staffing and conditions change by season.

If the stairs and inclines in the gorge are a dealbreaker, The Basin, another waterfall and pool in the same park, involves less walking and fewer stairs based on visitor reports, and Franconia Notch's paved recreation trail nearby is confirmed accessible on the park's accessibility page.

Checked by Accessible America, August 2026. Report a change

More accessible places in New Hampshire

• Alpine Adventures (Lincoln)
• Clark’s Bears (Lincoln)
• Hobo Railroad (Lincoln)
• Whale’s Tale Water Park (Lincoln)
• Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park (Cornish)
• Jackson (Mount Washington Valley) (Jackson)

Photo credits

• The red Flume covered bridge crosses the Pemigewasset River, built in 1886.: Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0 (source)
• Visitors walk a railed boardwalk through the narrow granite gorge of the Flume.: Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0 (source)
• A visitor pauses on the boardwalk to watch a waterfall crash through Flume Gorge.: Original uploaded by Quintin3265 (Transfered by Gavin.perch), CC BY-SA 3.0 (source)