A travertine falls on a creek that got its river back: 30 million gallons a day of 70 degree spring water, restored when the century-old hydro diversion was retired.
Year round
Big water window
see the season section
Spring fed
What drives it
Fossil Creek
Live USGS
Data on this page
gauge 09507480
USFS Coconino
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 Fossil Creek Falls, and when
Fossil Springs discharges more than 30 million gallons a day at about 70 degrees, per the Forest Service, and the high mineral content builds the travertine dams that give the creek its name. The flow barely varies; the calendar that matters is administrative. From April 1 to October 1 a Recreation.gov parking permit is required, and from October 2 to March 31 no fees or permits apply. The creek has only run this full since the Childs-Irving hydro plants were decommissioned in the 2000s, making this the rare falls that got bigger in living memory.
What the agency itself says
It is fed by springs that descend from the cliffs of the Mogollon Rim. More than 30 million gallons of water are discharged each day at a temperature of about 70° Fahrenheit. The high mineral content of the water leaves travertine dams and deposits along the river, giving rise to a fossil-like appearance.
Coconino National Forest (US Forest Service)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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Right now
What Fossil Creek is doing today
Flow at the gauge now
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USGS median for Oct 15
Not published
Gauge: USGS 09507480 Fossil Creek near Strawberry AZ, upstream of the falls on the same creek, near the springs. The gauge reads the river, not the brink of the falls, so treat it as the trend line rather than a turnstile.
Source: USGS Water Services (National Water Information System). Instantaneous values and daily statistics services. U.S. Geological Survey data are works of the United States Government and are in the public domain. Gauge verified 2026-08-27.
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 mile long Dixon Lewis trail follows the creek to the falls, where the Forest Service says crowds spend the day swimming; note its blunt warning below before treating that as an endorsement. Gates to the permit lots close at 3 pm, the access road is rough after rain, and the creek cannot be reached by car from the Strawberry side.
Constant spring water building its own rock (Burney Falls, California). Fossil Creek runs the same physics with warmer water and a permit calendar. “Burney Falls (6489840799)” by Prayitno / Thank you for (9 millions +) views from Los Angeles, USA, CC BY 2.0
Common questions
Fossil Creek Falls flow season FAQ
Fossil Springs discharges more than 30 million gallons a day at about 70 degrees, per the Forest Service, and the high mineral content builds the travertine dams that give the creek its name. The flow barely varies; the calendar that matters is administrative. From April 1 to October 1 a Recreation.gov parking permit is required, and from October 2 to March 31 no fees or permits apply. The creek has only run this full since the Childs-Irving hydro plants were decommissioned in the 2000s, making this the rare falls that got bigger in living memory.
This page reads the USGS gauge on Fossil Creek (Fossil Creek near Strawberry AZ, upstream of the falls on the same creek, near the springs) live in your browser, and shows the latest flow next to the median USGS publishes for today's date, so you can see where today sits in the year. The gauge reads the river, not the brink, so treat it as the trend rather than a turnstile.
No; the springs are as close to a constant as Arizona hydrology offers. Plan around the permit season and the monsoon-muddy road, not the water.
Coconino National Forest (US Forest Service). The mile long Dixon Lewis trail follows the creek to the falls, where the Forest Service says crowds spend the day swimming; note its blunt warning below before treating that as an endorsement. Gates to the permit lots close at 3 pm, the access road is rough after rain, and the creek cannot be reached by car from the Strawberry side. 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: "However, swimming and cliff diving near the waterfall is extremely dangerous and has led to several drowning deaths and severe injuries." That sentence is Coconino National Forest (US Forest Service)'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
The blue green icon of Havasu Canyon on sovereign Havasupai land: aquifer-fed water over travertine, reachable only with a tribal permit and an eight mile hike past Supai.
Tucson's desert cascade: seven pools stacked in Bear Canyon, flowing after winter rains and monsoon bursts, dry-ish in between, and reached across numerous stream crossings.
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 Coconino National Forest (US Forest Service). 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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