The 10 Best Waterfalls in Kentucky
Kentucky holds the only place in the Western Hemisphere where you can reliably watch a moonbow — a lunar rainbow in waterfall mist — plus a 113-foot free-faller, a swimming hole managed by permit after real tragedy, and sandstone country where every gorge hides a curtain. The state's waterfall story is the Cumberland Plateau's story, and it's a good one.
Cumberland: the Niagara of the South and its full-moon moonbow — the park stays open all night for it.
Directions, season & rules for Cumberland Falls →
Yahoo: Kentucky's tallest at 113 feet, with a rock-shelter walk behind the curtain.
Directions, season & rules for Yahoo Falls →
Eagle: a 44-foot ribbon with Cumberland Falls roaring in the same frame.
Directions, season & rules for Eagle Falls →
Bad Branch: sixty feet in a raven-guarded hemlock gorge on Pine Mountain.
Directions, season & rules for Bad Branch Falls →Creation: Red River Gorge's falls-and-arch double feature on one short loop.
Directions, season & rules for Creation Falls →
Dog Slaughter: the Daniel Boone's boulder-grotto swimming hole.
Directions, season & rules for Dog Slaughter Falls →
Seventy Six: a limestone curtain pouring straight into Lake Cumberland — best seat is a boat.
Directions, season & rules for Seventy Six Falls →Flat Lick: a horseshoe falls with a paved path, campsites, and Jackson County's favorite pool.
Directions, season & rules for Flat Lick Falls →Princess: a quiet ledge falls on the Sheltowee Trace, named for a legend.
Directions, season & rules for Princess Falls →Broke Leg: the dime-admission roadside falls of old, free now, tornado scars and all.
Directions, season & rules for Broke Leg Falls →Rankings reflect our research, not a verdict on your trip. Check access and conditions before you go.