About

My name is Matthew, and basically I've just made it my goal in life to visit as many waterfalls as possible. I've currently been to waterfalls in nearly 20 states, and have plans to visit most all the states eventually. The point of this website is to document all the waterfalls I've been to through the years, and update it with new waterfalls I visit. So come with me as I visit more and more waterfalls, and maybe you can get yourself to some of these as well.Scroll down for more miscellaneous information. I update this website fairly often, and here's the changelog:

Link to Changelog

Who Am I

At the time of writing, I'm 18 years old, started this wesbite when I was 16, and the earliest photo with me in it anywhere on this site is from when I was 14. I've lived in Kansas City since I was born, and if you're from this part of the country, you'll know it's not the greatest place for finding waterfalls. Nevertheless, I have found a fair amount of falls in the KC area, and later in Kansas. Much of this time I consider my "formative" period, which was in the summer and fall of 2019. There is a very small amount of photos I've used from this time period on my website, all in Missouri and Kansas. In March, 2020, I got my big break when I went on a three day trip to Manchester, Tennessee over spring break in my eighth grade year of school. This was my first taste with big waterfalls, as up to this point, I had been waterfalling in Missouri and Kansas exclusively. I still consider this to be the most important moment of my life, as it really set the pace for the rest of it. This is also when I visited Greeter Falls, which to this day remains my favorite waterfall. Other significant trips I've taken were to New York in October, 2021, which is the farthest I've ever travelled for waterfalls, and remains one of my most fondly remembered trips. My trip to Colorado in June, 2022 was the first trip in which I drove the entire way, instead of my mom (many thanks to her for all she had done up to this point). In September, 2023, I made it up to Ontario, marking the first time my travelling had gone international. And finally, in May, 2024, I took my first trip to a waterfall out of state alone, to Minnesota. Travelling alone has it's ups and downs, but moving forward, it is mostly what I will be doing. I've been to so many waterfalls at this point, and I've even completed a few states, but I still have much work to do. I started this website as a way to put all my excursions in one place, and to make it easier for people to find these places for themselves. I try to visit waterfalls based on their quality, not their ease of access, and as such, I have been to and plan to visit obscure waterfalls. These usually have very little information online about them, and I'm trying to make it easier to plan your own trip. Most of my fondest memories of waterfalling are at remote and off-the-radar locations no tourists dare go. Lastly, I understand the appeal of using a site like this to just look at pictures, even if you have no intention of actually going to these places, and that's fine. I also understand that many of you will actually want to know how to get to these places, and for you, I will now describe what all the information on this site means:

How to Use This as A Guide

All states are broken into Subsections, which are the different regions of the state. Some states may not have subsections if there are, or I have only been to a small number of falls there. Under the subsection, waterfall entries will usually be listed alphabetically.
The Title of an entry will always be the first thing you should see. It will be color coded green/yellow/red to show its difficulty (easy/moderate/difficult). Entries with a number after them in parentheses indicate places with multiple falls. There are some other things that may be posted next to the title, including a hazard symbol (indicates that the waterfall will require dangerous access), a blue square (indicates that walking in, or across a creek is required), and a number (indicates a waterfall's ranking in my top 10, if applicable. Hazard: Wading required: Top 10 ranking:
The Description is a description of the falls, area surrounding the falls, parking, and what you'll be in for in the hike, as well as any other relevant information.
The Hiking Description is a description about the trail itself, including directions on how to reach the fall(s), trail conditions as you go, and occasionally information about other attractions. Some of the hiking descriptions may be vague, usually because I wrote the description years after actually visiting, but my website shouldn't be your only resource when planning a trip. You should have a pretty good idea of how to read a map and coordinates before you go, and maybe even bring a copy of the map with you when you go. If you're not good at this, stick to major attractions, and skip the obscure ones.
- In a few entries, I will lump all waterfalls in a single park into one entry. This may require you to go to different parking areas for each falls, and as such, the description, and hiking description will be a bit different than from traditional entries.
Total Mileage refers to the mileage to the fall(s) and back. If spurs are included in this total, it will be noted. Sometimes, multiple totals will be listed, referring to the total milage to different locations. This will be marked.
Difficulty is rated on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 indicating roadside falls with no hiking, 1-3 being easy, 4-7 being moderate, and 8-10 being difficult. In rare cases, a falls may be ranked as "10+". Any falls with this ranking is not only difficult to reach, but also dangerous, often without aid of a trail, and with steep drop-offs. These should only be attempted by those with good agility, balance, logic, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to have made your peace with God really. Furthermore, some falls may be listed with a difficulty under 10, but still may possess a "+" sign after it. The difficulty posted is how hard it is to get to the falls at all, and the "+" means that it may be even harder to get to the best views of the falls. This should be marked.
Date First Visited is the first time I visited that falls. A few of these falls I first visited many years ago, before I had a camera, and was just for fun. I may have lost any data over when I visited these falls for the first time, so the date may be vague (Ex: Fall, 2019)
Date Last Visited is the date I have most recently visited that falls. Many times, this is the same date as my first visit.
All entries will include at least one photo, with some containing numerous. Entries with multiple falls may not have pictures of all falls, usually if they are insignificant and/or hard to photograph.
Rank denotes my rank of the entry in the form of a letter grade. This is totally subjective, but it should give you an idea of how much I'd recommend the hike/falls. Few falls on this site will be under the B tier. B tier falls are nice, but may not be worth seeking out if you're just a casual fan. Anything in the A tier is worthy of your time, and any entry noted as "A+" is a must-see, in my opinion. You'll see a lot of these in New York and Tenessee. A very small number of entries are noted as "A++", and these are my absolute favorites of all time.

#2

Safety/Preparedness

Waterfalls are dangerous, plain and simple. However, some common sense can make most waterfalls safe. Even with all the waterfalls I've been to, I've only fallen a few times, and I've never been injured bad enough to warrant anything more than a band-aid. Test your limits in places where you can escape if it's too much (ex. try scrambling down short hillsides where you can get back to the trail easily before trying to scramble down a straight up mountain). Once you know your limits, you can get a feel for what you can and can't do. For example, after a rather traumatic, but also very educational experience in 2020, I will never scramble down any slope made of scree (pebbles of gravel), or down a hill with nothing to hang on to. Don't be afraid to try trails marked as difficult, but just don't let your pride take you into something you can't get out of. It's hard to stop yourself once you've come so far, especially if you're so close to the falls, but a scramble still restricts you from the best views. You'll have to decide if you can do it or not. It's at this point that I should mention that I'm not really the person to be writing a "safety" guide, as I'm young and dumb and not really aware of all the dangers out there. However, I do have a lot of experience with waterfalls, and I somewhat know what I'm talking about. With that being said though, I've made some bad decisions on the trail that could have ended very bad, and I've also trespassed on a few occasions. I personally believe that waterfalls are a work of nature, and that everyone should be allowed to see them. The law disagrees, and some waterfalls are found on private property, and since I'm an idiot, I might still go to them if I think it's worth the risk. I won't tell you to trespass, but I'm not going to stop you either, and if I trespassed to visit a waterfall, I will make it clear. If I ever get arrested for this, I'll be sure to put a picture of my mugshot on here somewhere.

Some good items to bring on a hike:

Water is pretty much a no-brainer, yet I almost never bring it. That's because I'm stupid, mainly, but I also hike fast and usually am only gone for an hour or two. On short hikes, you probably don't need water, but it's never a bad idea to bring it, especially if something bad were to happen, and you end up on the trail longer than expected.
Food isn't as important as water, but should still be brought on longer hikes. On shorter hikes (I'd say 3 miles round-trip) or less, you can probably skip bringing food unless you plan to spend a significant amount of time there (ex. swimming). For longer hikes, especially if they are difficult, you'll need food to keep you going.
Maps, either physical or downloaded should be brought on all hikes that aren't short and/or well marked. Some very popular trails are poorly marked, and it's easier than you'd think to get lost. You should also learn how to read coordinates, which is easy, and can make it much easier to pinpoint exact locations along a trail.
Bring something to take a photo! You don't need a professional camera to take good photos of a waterfall, and most cellphones these days can take a satisfactory photo. I personally use a Nikon D3500 camera, which is old and was pretty cheap compared to what many landscape photographers use, but it's a really great camera, and I'd reccomend it to anyone.
Lastly, just enjoy the experience. I, myself, will get so caught up in getting a good photo that I'll forget about the real reason why I came: to see some awesome waterfalls! Visiting waterfalls can be the source of some of the greatest memories you can ever make, so go, and tell your friends and family to go while you're at it. Many people live such boring lives, with incredible waterfalls not as far away as you may think. I'm starting to rant now, so this section will end now.

Top 10 Falls - All Time

Now for some fun. This is my list of my top 10 favorite waterfalls I've ever been to. I will provide a short description for each as to why I like it so much. You'll notice that a lot of these are in Tennessee, because for whatever reason, I just love the falls in that state a very lot.

10. Suter Falls; Tennessee

Suter Falls is special because it is the first major waterfall I went to by myself, and the trail there was difficult, and the falls was quite a reward. It was also flowing heavier than it usually would, making for quite the treat.

9. Road 299 Falls; Arkansas

Road 299 Falls is found in the middle of nowhere, quite possibly in the most remote area I've ever been to. I just knew there was not another person for miles, and paired with this falls only flowing like this a few days of the year after heavy rains, makes this one memorable for me.

8. Caribou Falls; Minnesota

Caribou Falls is not the largest, most powerful, or most well known waterfall on Minnesota's North Shore, but it's my favorite. It had a very scenic hike that was completely devoid of people, despite being easy and right off the highway. Once you decend the long staircase to the base of the falls, you are met with a view so nice that I think it deserves this spot.

7. Woodruff Falls; Kansas

Woodruff Falls is a very obscure waterfall in Kansas that few people have posted photos of online. I was absolutely stunned when I arrived here to the sight I saw. The few pictures that do exist online painted a picture of a rather uninteresting falls, and I was met with a shocking display of power only seen after an absolute deluge of rain. Surely one of my luckiest pictures.

6. Dry Falls; North Carolina

Dry Falls is a very impressive and well known waterfall, but it's special to me because it's the first waterfall I ever walked behind, which I've still only done at a select few places. Walking behind this thing was like something I can't explain. You've just got to see it for yourself.

5. Ozone Falls; Tennessee

Ozone Falls is ridiculous waterfall that is special for me because it's one of the first I saw in Tennessee, and it's just such a cool place. You can get behind it, and there are so many different perspectives. This place actually holds my record for the most photos I took at a single place, with 34 pictures taken here during my 2023 visit. It's also a great place to swim.

4. Letchworth Park; New York

Letchworth State Park actually includes three major waterfalls, and they are all incredible, but the Middle Falls is the real show-stopper. The thing is so tall, but many times as wide, and if you stand right next to it, you look like an ant. Crazy stuff here, and it's probably the most well known place on this list. It gets pretty busy, but it's worth it this time. Middle Falls is pictured.

3. Cummins Falls; Tennessee

Cummins Falls is a real jaw-dropper, and it's high on this list because the hike to get to it is difficult and unique (walking in the river), and it takes a while to get there, but it's perhaps the greatest reward I've ever had on a hike. The experience alone is one of my favorite memories, but the falls is so good too, so it has to be high on the list.

2. Bridal Veil Falls; Colorado

Bridal Veil Falls has been my phone wallpaper for so long, and I doubt I'll ever change it. It might be the photo I'm most proud of ever taking, as it took me almost 20 minutes to get it just right, but when I got it, I got it. The hike there is also difficult, and quite possibly the most scenic hike I've ever done. It was painful, but I'd do it all again.

1. Greeter Falls; Tennessee

Quite possibly the most important day of my life was the day I first saw Greeter Falls. I've been there three times now, and I know I'll be back. You should go too.