Discover Devil’s Hole Falls: An Easy Waterfall Hike in Cedar Grove

Devil’s Hole Falls is a short and relatively unknown waterfall in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. Located along the Peckman River, Devil’s Hole Falls drops 9.8 feet through a small but tight gorge into a deep pool of water. Reaching Devil’s Hole Falls is incredibly easy and only requires a short hike from the Cedar Grove Community Park. Keep reading to learn how to get to this easy-to-reach waterfall in Essex County.

Devil’s Hole Falls

To reach Devil’s Hole Falls, begin in the large Cedar Grove Community Park parking lot. In the back of the parking lot (the side opposite the Cedar Grove Pool), you will see a restroom building and a paved trail. Take the paved trail to the back of the park towards the playground until it turns to dirt and crosses a small wooden bridge. Immediately after the bridge, make a right onto the obvious but unmarked trail. Take this trail along a typically dry stream bed to the Peckman River. At the river, the trail makes a left and follows the river for a short distance before reaching Devil’s Hole Falls.

Devil’s Hole Falls is relatively small, but it is still a nice waterfall. The Peckman River narrows in a thin gorge created in the bedrock before plunging into a deep pool. There are multiple areas to climb the rocks and get close views of the falls. The best view is from across the river, which can be crossed downstream by using rocks located in the river and with careful footing. Behind the waterfall is an old rail bridge, which is currently used for the West Essex Trail.

It appears that the river may have featured another waterfall to the left of the current waterfall in the past. Currently, the Peckman River is diverted just upstream of the waterfall, forcing all the water down the current Devil’s Hole Falls, leaving a dry trough to the left. During exceptionally high water events, the other waterfall may become visible again.

While Devil’s Hole Falls itself is nice, the area immediately surrounding the waterfall is full of litter, and the river has a slight odor, possibly from sewage runoff. There are multiple signs forbidding swimming due to a series of accidents in the park, most recently in 2023. Even if you are a confident swimmer, I would heed this warning as the water is not clean. The police do patrol the area for swimmers.

From Devil’s Hole Falls, you can return to your car the same way you came. Just below Devil’s Hole Falls, there are a few smaller cascades along the Peckman River that you pass along the trail. There are a few areas where you can view these cascades, including from a small bridge over the river near the back of the Cedar Grove Community Park field.

GPS Route