Waterfalls by state

Our map holds 5,731 named waterfalls across the 50 states and the District of Columbia, as of 2026-09-23. North Carolina has the most, with 841, followed by Washington (485) and New York (406). Each state page has the state's best-known falls, the tallest ones with a recorded height, the counties with the most falls and every named waterfall in the state, with a map that sorts them by distance from you.

Why some states have so many

Waterfalls need two things: water and a sudden drop. States with high mountains, heavy rain or snow, and layered or volcanic rock have the most. Alaska and the Pacific Northwest combine glacier-carved valleys with huge precipitation. The Appalachian states from New York to Georgia have steep, rainy terrain and layered rock that breaks into ledges. Hawaii's volcanic cliffs catch the trade-wind rain. Flat states on the coastal plain or the Great Plains have few, and those they have are small drops on creeks and rivers. Louisiana (3), North Dakota (2) and District of Columbia (1) have the fewest named falls, and Delawarehas none on record.

How to read the table

Named falls counts every waterfall with a name in the USGS Geographic Names Information System or in OpenStreetMap, merged so a fall in both is counted once. Tallest recorded is the highest fall with a height tagged in OpenStreetMap; 918 falls nationwide have one, so a state's true tallest may be a fall nobody has measured on the map yet. Published heights also vary between sources; see how waterfall height is measured. For the national record-holders, see the tallest waterfalls in the US.

StateNamed fallsTallest recorded
Alabama 54 none recorded
Alaska 75 Kvasnikoff Falls, 699 ft
Arizona 54 Winn Falls, 364 ft
Arkansas 201 Hemmed-In-Hollow Falls, 209 ft
California 382 East Snow Mountain Falls, 2,198 ft
Colorado 124 Treasure Falls, 105 ft
Connecticut 98 Dean's Ravine Falls, 49 ft
Delaware 0 none recorded
District of Columbia 1 none recorded
Florida 6 none recorded
Georgia 76 Toccoa Falls, 186 ft
Hawaii 129 Hiʻilawe Falls, 2,051 ft
Idaho 86 Perrine Coulee Falls, 233 ft
Illinois 37 Burden Falls, 102 ft
Indiana 30 Cascades Falls, 16 ft
Iowa 6 none recorded
Kansas 9 none recorded
Kentucky 87 Mariba Fork Falls, 112 ft
Louisiana 3 none recorded
Maine 166 Grand Falls, 20 ft
Maryland 18 Cunningham Falls, 78 ft
Massachusetts 48 Bear Rock Falls, 299 ft
Michigan 235 Houghton-Douglass Falls, 110 ft
Minnesota 88 High Falls, 120 ft
Mississippi 5 none recorded
Missouri 20 Waterfall (seasonal), 10 ft
Montana 133 Bird Woman Falls, 951 ft
Nebraska 10 Stone Creek Falls, 7 ft
Nevada 12 none recorded
New Hampshire 126 Arethusa Falls, 138 ft
New Jersey 29 Great Falls, 75 ft
New Mexico 22 Rio en Medio Falls, 164 ft
New York 406 Roaring Brook Falls, 262 ft
North Carolina 841 Upper Whitewater Falls, 410 ft
North Dakota 2 none recorded
Ohio 71 Cedar Cliff Falls, 23 ft
Oklahoma 33 Turner Falls, 79 ft
Oregon 389 Linton Falls, 600 ft
Pennsylvania 175 Ganoga Falls, 94 ft
Rhode Island 11 East Greenwich Falls, 25 ft
South Carolina 238 Rainbow Falls, 138 ft
South Dakota 12 Roughlock Falls, 59 ft
Tennessee 215 Fall Creek Falls, 256 ft
Texas 50 Capote Falls, 190 ft
Utah 79 Bridal Veil Falls, 607 ft
Vermont 63 McGinn Falls, 66 ft
Virginia 72 Falling Spring Falls, 262 ft
Washington 485 Louis Creek Falls, 1,720 ft
West Virginia 34 Lower Falls of Hills Creek, 63 ft
Wisconsin 82 Stephens Falls, 30 ft
Wyoming 103 Silver Cord Cascade, 1,214 ft

To find the falls around a specific place, use the waterfalls near me map.