The tallest of Starved Rock's canyon falls, with an agency that publishes the flow calendar outright: falls run March through June, may dry out by late June, and return as January icefalls.
March through mid June
Big water window
in a typical year
Rain fed
What drives it
an intermittent canyon stream at Starved Rock
Climatology
Data on this page
an intermittent canyon stream at Starved Rock is ungauged
Illinois 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 Wildcat Canyon Falls, and when
Illinois DNR's Starved Rock question-and-answer sheet is the most explicit seasonal document any agency publishes for a falls on this site, quoted below: waterfalls are generated by snowmelt and rainfall, occur March through June, may dry out late June through October, and re-form as icefalls in January. Wildcat Canyon's roughly 80 foot drop is the headliner among the eight accessible canyon falls the agency lists.
Typical best flow: March through mid June
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What the agency itself says
Waterfalls are generated by snowmelt and rainfall. They occur March through June but, may dry out late June through October. Heavy rains, snowfall, and snow melt in the months of November through March may replenish the canyon waterfalls.
Rain-fed falls carry the color of their watershed: Blackwater Falls runs amber with tannin from spruce and hemlock bogs upstream, and its volume tracks the last month of Appalachian weather. “Blackwater Falls (15437499241)” by Benjamin Smith from United States, CC BY 2.0
Getting there
Access, in the agency's words and ours
Boardwalk trails from Starved Rock's visitor center reach Wildcat Canyon's rim and floor among 13 miles of park trails, per the DNR; canyon wading, swimming and watersliding are prohibited with fines starting at $195, per the same document.
A seasonal falls between drinks (Shoshone Falls' dry months, Idaho). Wildcat Canyon runs the same feast-and-famine schedule, published to the month by its own agency. “Dry Falls 2016-09-28 358” by Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0
Common questions
Wildcat Canyon Falls flow season FAQ
The reliable big-water window is March through mid June. Illinois DNR's Starved Rock question-and-answer sheet is the most explicit seasonal document any agency publishes for a falls on this site, quoted below: waterfalls are generated by snowmelt and rainfall, occur March through June, may dry out late June through October, and re-form as icefalls in January. Wildcat Canyon's roughly 80 foot drop is the headliner among the eight accessible canyon falls the agency lists.
an intermittent canyon stream at Starved Rock has no USGS gauge near the falls, so the seasonal pattern above is the flow guide for Wildcat Canyon Falls, and Starved Rock State Park (Illinois DNR) is the source for current conditions on the ground.
Yes, on schedule: the agency itself says late June through October can run dry. March through June, and any thaw or storm, is the season, with January icefalls as the winter act.
Starved Rock State Park (Illinois DNR). Boardwalk trails from Starved Rock's visitor center reach Wildcat Canyon's rim and floor among 13 miles of park trails, per the DNR; canyon wading, swimming and watersliding are prohibited with fines starting at $195, per the same document. 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: "Wading and swimming or using the canyons as waterslides are prohibited and dangerous activities. Fines start at $195 per person." That sentence is Starved Rock State Park (Illinois 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
The Shawnee Hills' wet-weather cascade at the edge of its namesake wilderness, small but very scenic in the Forest Service's words, and best caught within days of rain.
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 Starved Rock State Park (Illinois DNR). National picture: waterfall season across the US → Hero image: “Dry Falls 2016-09-28 358” by Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0
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