Practical guides for getting to waterfalls and enjoying them safely. Start with waterfall hikes if you are choosing where to go this weekend, with the season guide if you are planning a trip months ahead, and with the safety guide before any visit with children or swimming in mind. The reference pages explain the names you see in trail guides and why two books can list the same fall at very different heights.
Planning a visit
- Waterfall hikes near me: Start from the falls closest to you, then choose the walk. The map below finds the waterfalls; this guide helps you pick the trail.
- The best time to see waterfalls: A waterfall is only as good as the stream behind it. Go when that stream is high, which depends on where the water comes from.
- Waterfall safety: Waterfalls look calm from a viewpoint and are not. Most injuries come from a few predictable mistakes.
- Swimming holes near me: Many of the best swimming holes sit below a waterfall. The map finds the falls; this guide helps you decide which pools are open and safe to swim.
Reference
- Types of waterfalls: Waterfalls are grouped by how the water leaves the ledge and what it touches on the way down. Here are the names you will see in trail guides.
- How waterfall height is measured: Two guidebooks can list the same waterfall hundreds of feet apart. Usually neither is wrong; they measured different things.
- Waterfall photography tips: Silky water, frozen spray or something in between is mostly a shutter-speed decision. The rest is light, a steady camera and a safe place to stand.
- The tallest waterfalls in the US: the famous record-holders, and the tallest falls on our map in every state.
To see the falls themselves, use the waterfall map or pick a state from waterfalls by state.