Waterfalls in Indiana

Indiana's waterfalls, cut into limestone bluffs and creek beds

Indiana's glaciers stopped short of its southern third, leaving Mississippian- and Devonian-age limestone and sandstone exposed rather than buried under drift, and it's there that nearly all of the state's 24 named waterfalls drop. Half of them cluster in a single county, above the Ohio River bluffs at Madison.

Where the waterfalls are

Jefferson County holds 12 listings around Clifty Falls State Park, where Clifty Creek's bed exposes fossil corals, brachiopods and ancestral squid from an ancient seafloor. Owen County has 2, Upper and Lower Cataract Falls, dropping over bedrock ridges of Ste. Genevieve Limestone in the Cagles Mill Lake recreation area; Putnam County also has 2, on Falls Branch and Little Walnut Creek near Greencastle. Single listings round out Bartholomew, Cass, Franklin, Martin, Parke, Wabash, Warren and Wayne counties.

Waterfalls worth the trip

• Clifty Falls, 70 feet, is seen from a marked overlook, the only sanctioned view, since the ground above and below it stays off limits.
• Little Clifty Falls, 60 feet, is a short walk from Trail 7, a rocky route through the same park.
• Upper Cataract Falls, 30 feet, sits beside a historic covered bridge in the Cagles Mill Lake recreation area, where swimming is banned along the whole creek.
• Williamsport Falls, 55 feet, drops over sandstone a short walk from downtown Williamsport and often runs dry between rains.
• Anderson Falls, 14 feet, is a free Bartholomew County park with about two miles of trails past limestone outcrops, on land the Nature Conservancy donated in 1981.
• Hindostan Falls, a low ledge on the East Fork White River, is a drive-up spot with boat ramps on both sides, at the site of a town wiped out by illness in 1828.

When to go

Clifty Falls runs fullest after wet weather in winter and spring, thinning to mist in drier stretches. Williamsport Falls often dries up completely and freezes over in winter, running best after rain or snowmelt. Anderson Falls and Hindostan Falls both depend on recent rainfall and water level rather than a fixed season.

Fees and closures

Indiana's state parks and recreation areas, including Clifty Falls State Park and the Cagles Mill Lake/Lieber/Cataract Falls area, charge $7 per Indiana-registered vehicle, $15 for an out-of-state vehicle, or $2 per pedestrian or cyclist age 5 and up in 2026; annual passes are accepted. Clifty Falls State Park keeps Brough's Tunnel closed indefinitely for rockfall risk, though Trail 5 stays open, and fossil collecting is banned throughout the park. Anderson Falls, Hindostan Falls and Williamsport Falls charge no admission.

Safety

Cagles Mill Lake's Cataract Falls SRA bans swimming anywhere along the creek and waterfalls; a 13-year-old was airlifted after a fall left them trapped below a cliff at Upper Cataract Falls. Clifty Falls State Park keeps the ground above and below every waterfall off limits at all times, with only the marked overlook and trails open. High water can submerge the ledge entirely at Hindostan Falls.