California's great exception: 129 feet of aquifer water pouring at a hundred million gallons a day, nearly the same in September as in May.
Year round
Big water window
see the season section
Spring fed
What drives it
Burney Creek
Climatology
Data on this page
Burney Creek is ungauged
CA State Parks
Managed by
their rules govern
Trail status, closures and safety rules belong to each falls' managing agency, named and linked on every page.
The season
What fills Burney Falls, and when
Burney Falls is the clearest spring-fed falls in the West. The state park explains that layered porous basalt stores rain and snowmelt in a vast underground reservoir, which emerges as springs at and above the falls at about 100 million gallons a day. The result is a waterfall that barely notices the season, which is precisely why late-summer visitors who found Yosemite dry get sent here.
What the agency itself says
Burney Creek originates from the park's underground springs and flows to Lake Britton, getting larger along the way to the majestic falls. Created over a million years ago, the layered, porous basalt retains rainwater and snow melt, which forms a large underground reservoir.
McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park (California State Parks)Multnomah Falls in autumn: a Columbia Gorge falls that keeps respectable flow year round, and the standard against which most falls seasons get measured. “Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Multnomah Falls, fall color - 3” — Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region — Public domain
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Current flow at Burney Falls
Spring-fed water advertises itself: the travertine terraces below Havasu Falls are built by minerals the spring water carries out of the aquifer, and the blue green color holds in every season. “Havasu falls Arizona” — Stolz Gary M, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — Public domain
Getting there
Access, in the agency's words and ours
The park piloted day-use reservations for Fridays, Sundays and holidays from mid May to late September 2026, and reports extremely high visitation from April through October, so check the reservation rules before a peak season weekend. A short trail drops from the overlook to the pool.
Burney Falls, with spring water emerging from the cliff face itself as well as over the lip. The lace on the walls is aquifer outflow, and it looks like this in every month. “Burney Falls (6489840799)” by Prayitno / Thank you for (9 millions +) views from Los Angeles, USA, CC BY 2.0
Common questions
Burney Falls flow season FAQ
Burney Falls is the clearest spring-fed falls in the West. The state park explains that layered porous basalt stores rain and snowmelt in a vast underground reservoir, which emerges as springs at and above the falls at about 100 million gallons a day. The result is a waterfall that barely notices the season, which is precisely why late-summer visitors who found Yosemite dry get sent here.
Burney Creek has no USGS gauge near the falls, so the seasonal pattern above is the flow guide for Burney Falls, and McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park (California State Parks) is the source for current conditions on the ground.
No. This is the point of the place: the flow is aquifer-fed and the park quotes it at roughly 100 million gallons a day year round. Seasonal variation exists but is a shrug compared with any snowmelt falls.
McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park (California State Parks). The park piloted day-use reservations for Fridays, Sundays and holidays from mid May to late September 2026, and reports extremely high visitation from April through October, so check the reservation rules before a peak season weekend. A short trail drops from the overlook to the pool. Trail status, closures and safety rules are theirs, and their page is linked on this one; nothing here overrides what they publish.
Yosemite Falls in May, running on snowmelt that will be gone by late summer. The National Park Service tells visitors the falls can be dry by August, which is why every falls page here starts from its watershed. “Tourists below Yosemite Falls (39832011431)” by Mike McBey, CC BY 2.0
The tallest waterfall in North America by the Park Service's measure, and the most famous seasonal one: 2,425 feet of snowmelt that thunders in May and is often gone by August.
The 620 foot fall at the gateway of Yosemite Valley: a thundering column in spring, a light swaying veil the rest of the year, and one of the few Yosemite falls that never quite quits.
The 317 foot Merced River step on the Mist Trail, wide as a curtain in June and narrowed to ribbons by late summer; the mist that names the trail is a spring-only drenching.
The 594 foot upper step of the Merced staircase above Vernal Fall, at its loudest in late May and June and visible from Glacier Point when the road is open.
Flow windows are typical-year climatology drawn from the driver and the agency language quoted above, not forecasts. Live readings and per-date percentiles are U.S. Geological Survey data, public domain; the above-or-below-typical line is our comparison and is labelled as such. Access, trail and safety information belongs to McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park (California State Parks). National picture: waterfall season across the US → Hero image: “Burney Falls (6489840799)” by Prayitno / Thank you for (9 millions +) views from Los Angeles, USA, CC BY 2.0
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