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North America

Waterfalls of North America

38 destinations across North America, ordered by significance. Filter by activity to find the ones that run what you want to do.

Yosemite Falls, United States

Yosemite Falls

United States · 739 m

North America's tallest waterfall drops in three stages — upper, middle cascades, and lower — off the granite wall of Yosemite Vall…

UNESCOTallest waterfall in North America

Takakkaw Falls

Canada · 373 m

Its Cree-derived name simply means 'it is magnificent,' an apt description for one of Canada's tallest waterfalls, fed by meltwater…

UNESCOOne of Canada's tallest waterfalls
Bridalveil Fall, United States

Bridalveil Fall

United States · 189 m

Often the first waterfall visitors see entering Yosemite Valley, its free-falling water is light enough that shifting winds sway it…

UNESCOYosemite's most reliably year-rou…
Nevada Fall, United States

Nevada Fall

United States · 181 m

The Merced River explodes off a granite step above Vernal Fall, reached via the strenuous Mist Trail that climbs alongside both fal…

UNESCOUpper anchor of Yosemite's famous…

Vernal Fall

United States · 97 m

A clean, wide sheet drops over a sheer granite lip into a broad pool, reached by granite steps carved directly into the cliff that …

UNESCOSwimmingOne of Yosemite's most-hiked dest…

Virginia Falls

Canada · 96 m

Nearly twice the height of Niagara, a limestone spire called Mason's Rock splits the South Nahanni River in two as it plunges into …

UNESCOKayakingWhite-water raftingOne of Canada's most remote major…
Lower Falls of the Yellowstone, United States

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone

United States · 94 m

Twice the height of Niagara, the Yellowstone River drops into the yellow-walled Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, the geological fea…

UNESCOCenterpiece of the Grand Canyon o…
Johnston Canyon Falls, Canada

Johnston Canyon Falls

Canada · 40 m

A catwalk trail bolted directly into the limestone canyon walls leads past a lower falls and on to a taller upper falls, one of the…

UNESCOIce climbingBanff's most popular canyon hike
Athabasca Falls, Canada

Athabasca Falls

Canada · 24 m

Though modest in height, the entire Athabasca River is forced through a narrow slot of hard quartzite sandstone, carving potholes a…

UNESCOWhite-water raftingMost powerful waterfall in Jasper…

Della Falls

Canada · 440 m

One of Canada's tallest waterfalls tumbles down a remote Vancouver Island valley reachable only by boating the length of Great Cent…

One of Canada's tallest waterfall…
Basaseachic Falls, Mexico

Basaseachic Falls

Mexico · 246 m

One of Mexico's tallest waterfalls drops in a single free fall into the rugged Sierra Tarahumara, part of the vast Copper Canyon re…

Mexico's second-tallest waterfall
Amicalola Falls, United States

Amicalola Falls

United States · 222 m

The tallest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi tumbles down a series of rock staircases beside a 604-step metal stairway t…

Zip linesTallest waterfall in Georgia and …
Multnomah Falls, United States

Multnomah Falls

United States · 189 m

A two-tiered drop framed by a historic stone footbridge is Oregon's most-visited natural attraction, pulling in more than two milli…

Oregon's most-visited natural landmark
Helmcken Falls, Canada

Helmcken Falls

Canada · 141 m

The fourth-largest waterfall in Canada plunges over a volcanic rim into a horseshoe canyon so deep that a roadside viewpoint gives …

Ice climbingFourth-largest waterfall in Canad…

Akaka Falls

United States · 135 m

A single sheer drop through rainforest thick with wild orchids, bamboo, and banyan trees is reached via a short paved loop trail on…

Big Island's most-visited waterfall
Tamul Falls, Mexico

Tamul Falls

Mexico · 105 m

Two rivers, one running clear turquoise and one silt-laden, merge just above the lip and plunge together over a broad limestone cli…

SwimmingOne of Mexico's tallest and wides…
Montmorency Falls, Canada

Montmorency Falls

Canada · 83 m

Standing 30 metres taller than Niagara, the falls mark the spot where British general James Wolfe landed troops before the decisive…

Via ferrataZip lines30 metres taller than Niagara Falls
Snoqualmie Falls, United States

Snoqualmie Falls

United States · 82 m

A short drive from Seattle, the falls have generated hydroelectric power continuously since 1898 from a plant built directly into t…

Site of one of the oldest operati…
La Fortuna Waterfall, Costa Rica

La Fortuna Waterfall

Costa Rica · 70 m

A single vertical drop off the flank of Arenal Volcano's foothills falls into a cold, boulder-strewn pool reached by a steep stairc…

CanyoningAbseilingSignature waterfall of Costa Rica…
Taughannock Falls, United States

Taughannock Falls

United States · 66 m

Free-falling from a rock amphitheatre higher than Niagara, this Finger Lakes drop sits within a gorge whose walls climb 120 metres …

SwimmingTaller than Niagara Falls

Shoshone Falls

United States · 65 m

Taller than Niagara and once nicknamed the 'Niagara of the West,' this Snake River curtain is at its thunderous best only in spring…

KayakingTaller than Niagara Falls

Palouse Falls

United States · 61 m

Carved by catastrophic Ice Age floods that repeatedly scoured the Columbia Plateau, the falls drop into a stark basalt canyon that …

Washington State's official state…
Tallulah Falls, United States

Tallulah Falls

United States · 58 m

A series of cascades drop nearly 150 metres in total through a 300-metre-deep gorge that was once a premier 19th-century tourist at…

Via ferrataAnchor of one of the deepest gorg…

Horseshoe Falls

Canada · 57 m

The larger and more powerful of Niagara's two main falls curves in a broad crescent on the Canadian side, carrying nearly nine-tent…

Helicopter flightsZip linesCarries about 90% of the Niagara …

Toccoa Falls

United States · 57 m

Taller than Niagara despite its modest width, this free-falling curtain sits on the grounds of a small Christian college and is rea…

Taller than Niagara Falls, on a c…
Niagara Falls, Canada / United States

Niagara Falls

Canada · United States · 51 m

Three falls in one — Horseshoe, American, and Bridal Veil — move more water per second than almost any other falls on Earth, funnel…

Helicopter flightsJet boatHighest flow rate of any waterfal…

Nauyaca Falls

Costa Rica · 45 m

A two-tiered cascade on the Barú River drops into one of the Costa Rican Pacific coast's most popular swimming holes, reached by a …

SwimmingSouth Pacific Costa Rica's most p…
Ruby Falls, United States

Ruby Falls

United States · 44 m

Hidden 260 metres below Lookout Mountain inside Ruby Falls Cave, this is the tallest and deepest underground waterfall commercially…

CavingTallest underground waterfall ope…
Pulhapanzak Falls, Honduras

Pulhapanzak Falls

Honduras · 43 m

A broad curtain on the Río Lindo drops into a jungle canyon that guides lead visitors behind and even partway down via a canyoning …

CanyoningSwimmingHonduras's most-visited natural a…
Havasu Falls, United States

Havasu Falls

United States · 30 m

Mineral-rich travertine dissolved from the canyon walls tints the plunge pool a surreal turquoise-blue, a color that persists year-…

Helicopter flightsSwimmingMost famous turquoise waterfall i…
Agua Azul, Mexico

Agua Azul

Mexico · 30 m

A staircase of travertine terraces turns the river a milky turquoise-blue as calcium carbonate precipitates out of solution, formin…

SwimmingOne of Mexico's most photographed…

Rio Celeste Falls

Costa Rica · 30 m

The startling sky-blue color comes not from dye or minerals dissolved in the water but from the physics of light scattering off sus…

Famous for water colored by optic…
Letchworth State Park Falls, United States

Letchworth State Park Falls

United States · 30 m

Three separate falls step down the Genesee River as it carves through a 183-metre-deep gorge nicknamed the 'Grand Canyon of the Eas…

Hot-air ballooningCenterpiece of the 'Grand Canyon …
Linville Falls, United States

Linville Falls

United States · 27 m

Two drops feed into Linville Gorge, the deepest canyon in the eastern United States, with several short trails leading to overlooks…

Gateway to the deepest gorge in t…
McWay Falls, United States

McWay Falls

United States · 24 m

One of very few waterfalls in the world that drops directly onto a beach, this year-round stream free-falls from a coastal bluff on…

One of the world's few waterfalls…
Wailua Falls, United States

Wailua Falls

United States · 24 m

Twin curtains drop side by side into a wide circular pool just off the highway on Kauai's east side, familiar to many from the open…

Kauai's most famous roadside waterfall
Cumberland Falls, United States

Cumberland Falls

United States · 21 m

One of the very few places in the Western Hemisphere where a consistent lunar rainbow, or 'moonbow,' forms in the spray on clear ni…

White-water raftingOne of the few places on Earth wi…

Great Falls

United States · 20 m

Just upstream from Washington, D.C., the Potomac drops through a series of steep, closely spaced cascades into Mather Gorge, a whit…

KayakingThe most dramatic stretch of the …