Waterfalls in Alabama

Alabama's waterfalls, from Little River Canyon to the Sipsey Wilderness

Where the Cumberland Plateau reaches its southern end in northeastern Alabama, sandstone caprock over softer shale drops Little River and its side creeks off sheer canyon walls, producing the state's tallest falls. A separate arm of the plateau, cut by the Sipsey Fork in the northwest, holds far more falls but shorter ones, and the Talladega Mountains and scattered Piedmont and coastal-plain shoals fill out the rest. In all, 97 named waterfalls are recorded across 24 counties.

Where the waterfalls are

DeKalb County holds 14 listings around Fort Payne and Mentone, where Little River Canyon National Preserve and DeSoto State Park sit on Lookout Mountain. Cherokee County and Etowah County add falls along the same plateau edge, from Little River Falls to Noccalula Falls in Gadsden, while Marshall County and Jackson County hold smaller Sand Mountain drops toward Lake Guntersville.

Northwest, Winston County and Lawrence County together hold 27 listings, the state's densest cluster, inside the Bankhead National Forest's Sipsey Wilderness. Franklin County, Marion County, Cullman County, Morgan County and Blount County surround that cluster, including the privately preserved Dismals Canyon in Franklin County.

South and east, Clay County and Talladega County hold falls in the Talladega National Forest around Cheaha Mountain, the state's highest point. Piedmont shoals continue through Shelby County, Lee County, Tuscaloosa County, Randolph County, Tallapoosa County and Jefferson County, with isolated coastal-plain drops in Bullock County, Covington County, Houston County and Mobile County.

Waterfalls worth the trip

• Graces High Falls, 133 feet, is seen from a platform on the Little River Canyon Rim Parkway; it runs only after rain and can dry up between storms.
• De Soto Falls, 88 feet on the West Fork Little River (Wikipedia and the park's own map give 104 to 107), drops beside a former hydroelectric dam near Mentone, down about 50 concrete steps to a paved overlook.
• Little River Falls, 30 feet at the head of Little River Canyon, is a short boardwalk from a 100-car lot off Highway 35, free to visit.
• Noccalula Falls, 79 feet (park materials still say 90), drops into a Black Creek gorge in a Gadsden city park; a paid trail leads behind the falling water.
• Yellow Creek Falls, 95 feet in two tiers, is reached only by paddling about 0.75 mile up Weiss Lake's Yellow Creek arm, then a short unmarked path across private land; follow posted rules.
• Turkeyfoot Falls, 20 feet, sits in the Sipsey Wilderness, a 1.2-mile out-and-back where a washed-out creek crossing makes footing uncertain.
• High Falls, 50 feet in two tiered steps, drops in the Talladega National Forest near Cheaha State Park, a half-mile out-and-back with wood-and-steel stairs.
• Chewacla Falls, 20 feet, is a short, steep walk down the Deer Rub Trail's gneiss boulders near Auburn.

When to go

Winter and early spring bring the strongest flow across the plateau and Bankhead forest falls; De Soto Falls, Noccalula Falls and Turkeyfoot Falls all run lower by summer and fall. Weekend parking at Little River Falls often fills by late morning.

Fees and access

Little River Canyon National Preserve charges no fee at Little River Falls or the Graces High Falls overlook, though its separate Canyon Mouth Park site charges $15 in 2026. De Soto Falls charges $5 per vehicle in 2026, with a $50 local annual pass good only at that falls area. Noccalula Falls Park in Gadsden charges $10 for adults and $8 for children and seniors through October 31, 2026, and Chewacla State Park charges $5 for ages 12 to 61 and $3 for ages 4 to 11 and 62 and over. Rainbow Falls, inside privately owned Dismals Canyon, charges $20 on weekdays and $26 on weekends in its fall 2026 season, by registration only.

Safety

A 40-year-old man drowned at De Soto Falls after jumping from the falls on Memorial Day 2019, despite posted barriers and warning signs. An 18-year-old drowned after being swept over Little River Falls while floating upstream in June 2020; rangers ask visitors to stay 50 feet back from the edge, since rain can change the current quickly. A man suffered a head injury falling at Yellow Creek Falls in 2021 and had to be carried out to an ambulance. At the Talladega National Forest's High Falls, the creek crossing below the drop can run too swift after heavy rain, above a steep, slippery ravine.