Before the 1930s, the road from Conway along the Swift River ended in the Passaconaway Valley in Albany, and because its route ran farther from Lower Falls than the present-day Kancamagus Highway, Lower Falls did not appear in maps or tour books of that era. In the early 1930s, during the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps relocated the road closer to the river by following the bed of an abandoned logging railroad and built the first recreational facilities at the site, including a log picnic pavilion. After the final section of the Kancamagus Highway was completed in 1959, creating a thoroughfare from Conway to Lincoln, visitation to Lower Falls increased dramatically. Since the Civilian Conservation Corps's original improvements, the Forest Service has updated the site with paved parking, restroom facilities, access trails, picnic amenities, and an observation platform.
