Find the falls first, then the trail
Most waterfall hikes are named after the waterfall at the end of them, so the fastest way to find a waterfall hike near you is to find the waterfalls first. Tap Find falls near me above, or type a town or ZIP code. Every named waterfall within the radius appears on the map and in a list, nearest first, with its height where one is recorded and the county it sits in.
Pick two or three candidates from the top of the list. For each one, the Trail map link opens OpenStreetMap at that spot, where footpaths and trailheads are drawn in. That tells you in a few seconds whether the fall sits beside a parking area, at the end of a long trail, or somewhere with no mapped path at all. The Directions link sends you to the nearest road point in Google Maps, which is usually the trailhead.
A straight-line distance of 8 miles can be a 15-minute drive or a 90-minute one if a ridge sits in between. Check the drive before you commit, especially in mountain country.
How to judge a waterfall hike before you go
Four things decide whether a waterfall hike suits you: the length of the walk, the climb, the flow on the day, and whether the land is open. The map covers where the falls are. The rest comes from the land manager and a trail guide.
- Length. Roadside falls need no hike at all. Many popular falls sit at the end of a 1 to 3 mile round trip. Backcountry falls can take a full day.
- Climb. Falls sit where a stream drops off a ledge, so the trail almost always drops or climbs with it. A trail that descends to the plunge pool means the climb comes on the way back, when you are tired.
- Flow. The same waterfall can be a roar in May and a trickle in September. See the best time to see waterfalls.
- Access. State parks, national forests and private land have different rules on parking fees, permits, dogs and closures. Look up the managing agency by name before you drive.
Filters that help
The height chips above narrow the list to falls with a recorded drop of 25, 50 or 100 feet or more. Heights come from OpenStreetMap, where mappers record them when they have a source, so many smaller falls have no height and drop out of a filtered list. If a filter empties the map, switch back to Any height or widen the radius.
Height is only one measure of a good hike. A 20-foot fall in a mossy gorge can be a better walk than a 200-foot ribbon seen from a viewpoint. Use the filters to find the big ones and the list to find the close ones.
What to take on a waterfall hike
- Shoes with real grip. Rock near falls is wet, algae-covered and far slicker than it looks.
- Water and a snack, even on short trails, because the climb out is often steeper than the walk in.
- A layer. Spray and shade make the air at a big fall noticeably colder.
- A downloaded map. Canyons with waterfalls are exactly where phones lose signal.
- A dry bag or zip bag for your phone if you plan to get close to the spray.
Stay on the trail
The most common way people get hurt at waterfalls is leaving the trail to get closer: scrambling down to the pool, stepping onto wet rock at the lip, or climbing beside the drop. Fences and barriers at popular falls are there because people have fallen at that exact spot. Our waterfall safety guide covers the specific hazards, from slick rock to sudden rises in water level.