Waterfalls in Utah

Utah's waterfalls, from Wasatch ice climbs to Zion's sandstone drops

Two kinds of rock give Utah its waterfalls. Snowmelt off the Wasatch Front and the glaciated Uinta Mountains drives creeks over ledges that peak by early summer and freeze by midwinter, while farther south Navajo Sandstone cliffs in Zion, Grand Staircase-Escalante and Canyonlands hold spring-fed falls that never stop and desert pour-offs that run only after a storm. In all, 76 named waterfalls are recorded across 19 counties.

Where the waterfalls are

The Wasatch Front carries the most listings. Salt Lake County has 13, mostly short hikes into Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, and Utah County has 12 more around Provo Canyon and American Fork Canyon; Davis County and Weber County add foothill canyons above Farmington and Ogden.

East of the Wasatch, the glaciated Uinta Mountains hold falls in Summit County, Duchesne County and Wasatch County, strung along the Mirror Lake Highway.

South, Washington County — 13 listings — sits almost entirely inside Zion National Park. Kane County and Garfield County cover Grand Staircase-Escalante, Wayne County holds Capitol Reef, and San Juan County has mostly ephemeral pour-offs. Carbon County, on Bureau of Land Management ground, has a smaller pair near Price.

Waterfalls worth the trip

• Birch Creek Falls, 600 feet, drops from a hanging side canyon on the west wall of Zion Canyon. There is no trail to the base, but the seasonal falls often show after rain, visible from the Court of the Patriarchs shuttle stop.
• Bridal Veil Falls, 430 feet in three tiers beside US-189 in Provo Canyon, is spring-fed and flows all year. A paved path normally reaches the viewing area, though the base trail closes for reconstruction from July 2026 into 2027.
• Lower Calf Creek Falls, about 150 feet, is a spring-fed plunge in Grand Staircase-Escalante, at the end of a sandy 6-mile round trip from Calf Creek Campground.
• Provo River Falls, about 100 feet over at least seven steps, sits right beside the Mirror Lake Highway in the Uinta Mountains, a short walk from the milepost 23.9 parking area.
• Malan Falls, 320 feet at the head of Waterfall Canyon above Ogden, is a strenuous 2.4-mile round trip with a rocky scramble near the top and private land bordering the trail.
• Battle Creek Falls, a 55-foot plunge above Pleasant Grove, is an easy mile-and-a-half round trip that freezes into a climbable ice column most winters.
• Doughnut Falls, 20 feet, pours through a hole in the rock into a small cave, a short walk from the Mill D trailhead in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

When to go

Wasatch Front and Uinta creeks run on snowmelt, peaking in late May and June and thinning by late summer; Bridal Veil Falls' upper tiers freeze into a route called Stairway to Heaven most winters. Lower Calf Creek Falls flows all year, best visited in spring or fall to dodge summer heat on its sandy trail. The Mirror Lake Highway, which passes Provo River Falls, closes every winter and reopened for the season on May 22, 2026. Zion's shuttle, the only way to reach the Court of the Patriarchs stop in season, runs daily from mid-spring through late fall.

Fees, permits and closures

Zion National Park charges $35 per vehicle or $20 per person for a week in 2026; once the shuttle is running, private cars cannot use the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive without a medical permit. Grand Staircase-Escalante charges $5 per vehicle at the Calf Creek trailhead. Doughnut Falls' Big Cottonwood Canyon trailhead has charged a Forest Service parking fee since June 2026 — $10 for three days, $20 for a week or $60 a year — and the canyon's watershed rules ban dogs, swimming and wading outright. Bridal Veil Falls and Battle Creek Falls are both free, though each has construction under way in 2026. Fremont River Falls, beside the highway in Capitol Reef, stays closed to entry under the park's current rules.

Safety

At Lower Calf Creek Falls, rock has fallen from the overhanging cliff into the pool without warning since at least 2024, when a struck visitor needed a helicopter evacuation. Hikers have died falling from the rocks around Malan Falls, and visitors are asked not to climb its cliffs. Fremont River Falls' recirculating current has caused repeated near-drownings, and its plunge pool now sits inside a closed, no-entry zone.