Waterfalls in Maryland

Where Maryland's rivers drop: Piedmont, Blue Ridge and the Alleghenies

Maryland's waterfalls follow its geology from west to east: the Appalachian Plateau in the Garrett County highlands, the Blue Ridge around Catoctin Mountain, and the Piedmont's harder rock northeast of Baltimore, before rivers reach the fall line and the coastal plain beyond, where the Potomac drops over its Great Falls. Thirteen named waterfalls turn up across the state, split among six counties.

Where the waterfalls are

Garrett County, on the Appalachian Plateau in the western panhandle, holds five listings clustered around the Youghiogheny River near Oakland: Muddy Creek Falls, Swallow Falls, Lower Swallow Falls, Toliver Falls and Gap Falls. Frederick County, in the Blue Ridge, has Cunningham Falls near Thurmont and The Cascade near Myersville. Cecil County and Harford County, both in the Piedmont northeast of Baltimore, each hold two: Amos and Gilpins Falls in Cecil, Kilgore and Wiley Falls in Harford. Baltimore County and Washington County each add one, Jones Falls and Falls Creek Falls.

Waterfalls worth the trip

• Cunningham Falls, 70 feet on Big Hunting Creek over metabasalt and greenstone, is a moderate 0.75-mile Cliff Trail climb or an easier 0.5-mile Lower Trail from the William Houck day-use area; a separate boardwalk beside Route 77 is wheelchair accessible.
• Muddy Creek Falls, 40 feet, plunges over sandstone onto softer shale in Swallow Falls State Park, on the same 1.25-mile Canyon Trail as its neighbors below.
• Swallow Falls, 16 feet on the Youghiogheny, and Lower Swallow Falls, a broader 4-foot ledge downstream, sit a short walk apart on that same trail through old-growth forest; a hiking guide gives Lower Swallow closer to 6 to 8 feet.
• Kilgore Falls, 15 feet on Falling Branch in Rocks State Park, is a single vertical drop; a half-mile singletrack trail crosses the stream to reach its base.

Fees, reservations and closures

Cunningham Falls' William Houck area charges $3 per Maryland resident and $5 per nonresident on summer weekdays, rising to $5/$7 on weekends and holidays, or $3/$5 per vehicle off-season; a 2026 DNR update added pay-at-the-gate technology without requiring advance booking. Swallow Falls State Park charges the same $3/$5 per-person rate on its busiest dates and introduced weekend and holiday timed reservations for 2026, bookable seven days ahead; pets are barred from the day-use area and Canyon Trail from May 23 to September 7, 2026. Kilgore Falls carries the same per-person fee and required weekend reservations from June 27 through Labor Day 2026; offsite parking and drop-offs aren't permitted.

Safety

Swimming is banned at Cunningham Falls, where DNR reports hundreds of slip-and-fall incidents on the trails and boardwalks. Kilgore Falls has no lifeguard, and the park discourages jumping after serious injuries; a hiker there needed a UTV evacuation to EMS in July 2025. Maryland State Police hoisted an injured visitor near Muddy Creek Falls to a hospital by helicopter in July 2026.