Flow seasons by falls, checked against live USGS gauges

When US Waterfalls Actually Flow

Q: How do I know if a specific falls is flowing right now?

63 of the 136 falls documented here have a USGS gauge on their feeding river, and their pages read it live in your browser: the latest flow, the median USGS publishes for today's date, and where today sits against the typical range. Falls without a useful gauge say so and run on seasonal climatology, with the managing agency linked for on-the-ground conditions.

Q: Why is Yosemite Falls dry in late summer?

Because it is a snowmelt falls with a small, low-elevation drainage basin and no glacier or large spring behind it. The National Park Service itself tells visitors the falls is often a trickle or dry by August. That is normal, not a drought emergency, and it is the single clearest example of why a flow calendar is worth checking before a long drive.

Q: Why are Ruby Falls and some other famous falls not here?

These pages cover falls on public land, documented by the public agency that manages them, plus Havasu Falls on sovereign Havasupai land with the tribe's own permit system as the only door in. Privately owned commercial falls set their own hours, prices and access, and their operators' websites are the source for them; the list below names each one.

Q: Are these pages a safety guide?

No. These pages cover flow timing. Whether a trail, a crossing, a pool or an edge is safe is the managing agency's call, and every falls page names, quotes and links that agency; where it publishes a hazard warning, the page quotes it verbatim. Its word is the one that counts.

A waterfall is a river doing something photogenic, and rivers keep schedules. These pages publish the schedule falls by falls: the real driver behind each one, the typical big-water window, live USGS streamflow where a gauge exists, and the managing agency quoted on access.

136

Falls documented

every one cited to its agency

States covered

where the falls are real and documented

Read live

USGS gauges on the feeding rivers

Flow drivers

snowmelt, rain, springs, schedules

Trail status, closures and safety rules belong to each falls' managing agency, named and linked on every page.

The mechanics

Four things fill a waterfall

Ask when to visit a falls and you are really asking what fills its river. There are four answers, and each one implies a different calendar.

Snowmelt

The river is a savings account filled all winter and spent in one season. Falls on snowmelt rivers peak between April and early July depending on elevation, then spend the rest of the year drawing down; the famous ones can be near dry by September. Most of the West and the high Northeast works this way.

Rain fed

The river is a checking account: what fell in the last few weeks is what comes over the ledge. Rain-fed falls track the wet season, biggest from late fall through spring in the Northwest and from winter through spring in the Southeast, and they fatten within a day of any soaking storm.

Spring fed

The river comes out of the ground on a schedule set by an aquifer, not by the sky. Spring-fed falls are the exceptions that barely notice the calendar, running within a narrow band all year. There are only a handful of true ones, and they are priceless in September.

Flow controlled

A dam, a diversion or a treaty decides. Some of the most famous falls in the country run on an irrigation calendar or a power schedule, big when water is passed and starved when it is put to work. For these the schedule keeper, not the weather, sets the calendar.

Palouse Falls pouring a wide white column into a basalt canyon in April — Snowmelt, exhibit A: Palouse Falls in April, while the Palouse River still carries the melt off the hills. “04-15-14-palouse” — Dsdugan — CC0

Palouse Falls reduced to a narrow ribbon in late August — Snowmelt, exhibit B: the same falls in late August. Both photographs are true; only the calendar differs. “Palouse Falls 20100829” by Mark Wagner, CC BY-SA 2.5

State by state

Every documented falls, by state

States with two or more documented falls get a state page; every falls gets its own. Coverage follows the documentation, not the map: a state is here when its falls are real, public, and written up by the agency that manages them.

Falls counts per covered state. Single-falls states link straight to the falls page. Live means a USGS gauge on the feeding river.
State	Falls	Read live	The falls
Alabama	2	1	Little River Falls, DeSoto Falls
Alaska	2	1	Nugget Falls, Thunderbird Falls
Arizona	3	2	Havasu Falls, Fossil Creek Falls, Seven Falls (Sabino Canyon)
California	9	5	Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil Fall, Vernal Fall, Nevada Fall, Horsetail Fall, Rainbow Falls (Devils Postpile), Alamere Falls, Burney Falls, McWay Falls
Colorado	5	1	Rifle Falls, Hanging Lake, Treasure Falls, Helen Hunt Falls, Zapata Falls
Connecticut	2	1	Kent Falls, Wadsworth Big Falls
Georgia	2	1	Tallulah Gorge Falls, Amicalola Falls
Hawaii	5	4	Akaka Falls, Rainbow Falls (Hilo), Waimoku Falls, Opaekaa Falls, Wailua Falls (Kauai)
Idaho	3	3	Shoshone Falls, Upper Mesa Falls, Lower Mesa Falls
Illinois	2	0	Wildcat Canyon Falls, Burden Falls
Indiana	2	1	Cataract Falls, Clifty Falls
Kentucky	2	1	Cumberland Falls, Yahoo Falls
Maine	2	0	Moxie Falls, Screw Auger Falls
Maryland	3	2	Great Falls (Maryland side), Cunningham Falls, Muddy Creek Falls
Michigan	6	2	Tahquamenon Falls, Munising Falls, Miners Falls, Bond Falls, Laughing Whitefish Falls, Ocqueoc Falls
Minnesota	5	2	Gooseberry Falls, Baptism High Falls, Minnehaha Falls, Pigeon River High Falls, Minneopa Falls
Montana	3	2	Kootenai Falls, Palisade Falls, Holland Falls
Nebraska	2	1	Smith Falls, Fort Falls
New Hampshire	4	3	Arethusa Falls, Sabbaday Falls, Glen Ellis Falls, Flume Gorge
New Jersey	2	1	Great Falls of the Passaic, Buttermilk Falls (NJ)
New Mexico	3	2	Jemez Falls, Sitting Bull Falls, Nambe Falls
New York	8	2	Niagara (American Falls), Taughannock Falls, Watkins Glen, Kaaterskill Falls, Letchworth (Middle and Upper Falls), Buttermilk Falls (Ithaca), Chittenango Falls, Awosting Falls
North Carolina	4	2	Linville Falls, Looking Glass Falls, Whitewater Falls, Dry Falls
Ohio	3	1	Brandywine Falls, Cedar Falls (Hocking Hills), Ash Cave
Oklahoma	2	1	Turner Falls, Natural Falls
Oregon	8	1	Multnomah Falls, Latourell Falls, South Falls (Silver Falls), Toketee Falls, Salt Creek Falls, Tumalo Falls, Proxy Falls, White River Falls
Pennsylvania	4	0	Ricketts Glen, Dingmans Falls, Raymondskill Falls, Cucumber Falls
South Dakota	2	2	Roughlock Falls, Spearfish Falls
Tennessee	3	0	Fall Creek Falls, Burgess Falls, Cummins Falls
Texas	3	3	Gorman Falls, McKinney Falls, Pedernales Falls
Utah	3	1	Bridal Veil Falls (Provo), Lower Calf Creek Falls, Donut Falls
Vermont	3	2	Moss Glen Falls (Stowe), Texas Falls, Bingham Falls
Virginia	2	1	Great Falls of the Potomac, Dark Hollow Falls
Washington	9	7	Palouse Falls, Wallace Falls, Narada Falls, Christine Falls, Comet Falls, Sol Duc Falls, Marymere Falls, Franklin Falls, Rainbow Falls (Chehalis)
West Virginia	2	2	Sandstone Falls, Blackwater Falls
Wisconsin	3	1	Big Manitou Falls, Copper Falls, Willow Falls
Wyoming	2	1	Lower Falls, Tower Fall
Arkansas	1	0	Cedar Falls (no state page below two falls)
Iowa	1	0	Dunning's Spring Falls (no state page below two falls)
Massachusetts	1	0	Bash Bish Falls (no state page below two falls)
Missouri	1	0	Mina Sauk Falls (no state page below two falls)
North Dakota	1	0	Mineral Springs Waterfall (no state page below two falls)
South Carolina	1	0	Raven Cliff Falls (no state page below two falls)

Coverage

Falls and states without a page

Coverage follows the documentation: a falls is here when it sits on public land and the agency that manages it has written it up. Privately owned commercial falls are documented by their operators, and two states have no falls with an agency record of that kind.

Well known falls without a page

Ruby Falls (Tennessee): A privately owned commercial attraction inside Lookout Mountain, with its hours, tickets and access published by the operator.
Toccoa Falls (Georgia): On the private Toccoa Falls College campus, behind paid admission set by the college.
Falling Waters State Park (Florida): Florida’s tallest waterfall drops 73 feet into a sinkhole in Falling Waters State Park, and Florida State Parks publishes the park’s hours, access and seasonal notes.

States without pages

Mississippi: Dunn’s Falls is run by a quasi-public waterway district rather than by a state park agency.
Louisiana: No significant natural waterfall on public land is documented by a state agency.

The crest of the American Falls at Niagara with the rapids of the Niagara River behind — The American Falls at Niagara. Even the continent's most famous falls runs on a schedule: a 1950 treaty sets how much of the Niagara River must come over the brink in tourist season versus the rest of the year. Its page has the numbers, quoted from the International Joint Commission. “American Falls (Niagara Falls, northwest of Buffalo, New York State, USA) 2 (20124910745)” by James St. John, CC BY 2.0

Common questions

Waterfall season FAQ

When is waterfall season in the US?

It depends entirely on what fills the river. Snowmelt falls in the West and the high Northeast peak from April into early July and can fade to a trickle by September. Rain-fed falls in the Southeast and Midwest track the wet months, typically biggest from late winter through spring and after any soaking storm. Spring-fed falls, the rare exceptions, barely change all year. And a handful of famous falls run on an irrigation or power schedule rather than on weather.

How do I know if a specific falls is flowing right now?

Why is Yosemite Falls dry in late summer?

Why are Ruby Falls and some other famous falls not here?

Are these pages a safety guide?

Great Falls of the Potomac in November, whitewater threading through dark rock under a stormy sky — Great Falls of the Potomac in November, photographed by the National Park Service. A big Eastern river keeps its falls interesting in every season; the question is only which version you want to see. “Great Falls of the Potomac River in November, 2012” — National Park Service — Public domain

Keep planning

More seasonal timing

US lakesStill water, with its own seasons and its own pages.Fall foliageLow water season is often peak color. Plan them together.Salmon runsThe same rivers, read for fish instead of falls.

Flow windows are typical-year climatology from each watershed's driver, not forecasts. Live readings and per-date percentile bands come from the USGS Water Services (National Water Information System); USGS data are public domain. Where a page says a river is above or below typical for the date, that comparison is ours and is labelled. Access, trails, closures and safety belong to each falls' managing agency, named and linked on every page.