Maryland's Catoctin Mountain cascade, called McAfee Falls by the state's own page, sliding down mossy rock near Thurmont with strictly no swimming or climbing.
March through May
Big water window
in a typical year
Snowmelt
What drives it
Big Hunting Creek
Climatology
Data on this page
Big Hunting Creek is ungauged
Maryland DNR
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 Cunningham Falls, and when
The Catoctin ridge sheds its snowmelt and spring rain through Big Hunting Creek, making March through May the cascade's full season and late summer its quiet one. Maryland DNR's page is more interested in rules than in flow, and its rules are quoted here verbatim because they are the visit.
Typical best flow: March through May
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What the agency itself says
Swimming is prohibited and climbing is not advised at the falls. This policy is in place for the safety and protection of both the visitors and of the natural resource.
Cunningham Falls State Park (Maryland DNR)What a snowmelt year looks like at full send: Palouse Falls in mid April, when the Palouse River is still carrying the melt. The same falls in late August is a ribbon. Timing is most of the visit. “04-15-14-palouse” — Dsdugan — CC0
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Right now
Current flow at Cunningham Falls
The other half of the story: the same Palouse Falls in late August. Nothing is wrong; this is what a snowmelt river does every year once the melt is spent. “Palouse Falls 20100829” by Mark Wagner, CC BY-SA 2.5
Getting there
Access, in the agency's words and ours
The Lower Trail is the shortest and easiest access to the falls, per Maryland DNR, with the rugged Cliff Trail as the strenuous option; park hours run 8 am to sunset April through October and 10 am to sunset in winter.
A ridge cascade in its wet season (Looking Glass Falls, North Carolina). Cunningham runs the Catoctin version, best while the mountain still holds winter's water. “Looking Glass Falls, North Carolina, April 2025” by Bill McMannis, CC BY 2.0
Common questions
Cunningham Falls flow season FAQ
The reliable big-water window is March through May. The Catoctin ridge sheds its snowmelt and spring rain through Big Hunting Creek, making March through May the cascade's full season and late summer its quiet one. Maryland DNR's page is more interested in rules than in flow, and its rules are quoted here verbatim because they are the visit.
Big Hunting Creek has no USGS gauge near the falls, so the seasonal pattern above is the flow guide for Cunningham Falls, and Cunningham Falls State Park (Maryland DNR) is the source for current conditions on the ground.
It thins to a gentle slide in dry months; the mossy rock face photographs well regardless. Spring is the season with sound.
Cunningham Falls State Park (Maryland DNR). The Lower Trail is the shortest and easiest access to the falls, per Maryland DNR, with the rugged Cliff Trail as the strenuous option; park hours run 8 am to sunset April through October and 10 am to sunset in winter. Trail status, closures and safety rules are theirs, and their page is linked on this one; nothing here overrides what they publish.
In their own words: "Please no hiking or climbing off of the trail in or around Cunningham Falls (McAfee Falls)." That sentence is Cunningham Falls State Park (Maryland DNR)'s, quoted verbatim, and their page is the place to check before you go.
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
Maryland's big one: a crashing 53 foot falls in Swallow Falls State Park's old-growth hemlock corner, with a USGS gauge on the Youghiogheny essentially at the park.
Places to stay