America's 5 States With The Most Waterfalls To Visit, Ranked

There are some pretty dang breathtaking cataracts in the United States of America. From the roaring Niagara Falls on the USA-Canada border, where they say over 3,100 tons of water drop over the edge every second, to the 2,425-foot-high Yosemite Falls in the peaks of California's Sierra Nevada, there's no doubt that some of the world's most ethereal waterfalls await in this corner of the globe.

But what state has the most waterfalls overall? Where's the best part of the U.S. to go hunting for these amazing wonders of nature? This guide has the answer to that. Using official statistics from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), it computes all the named and known falls across the country to offer an insight into the five most waterfall-heavy territories.

There are plenty to get through. According to the USGS, every single state on our list counts in excess of 170 individual waterfalls, with three counting over 200 separate falls in all. As you might imagine, there's a good showing of mountainous regions, with a trio of West Coast states in attendance. But there are also places for states in the Midwest and on the Eastern Seaboard.

Oregon is pretty rich when it comes to water-based attractions. There's a 363-mile coastline on the Pacific here, after all. Plus, there's the long and snaking Umpqua River, lined with its own scenic byway awash with railroad history and fishing spots. Waterfalls also abound. They abound more than in any other state, in fact.

Yep, Oregon counts upwards of 230 falls according to the USGS database, placing it first among every single corner of the United States. It should hardly come as too much of a surprise — according to Rivers.org, there's upwards of 110,000 miles of waterway in the state. What's more, there's a whole string of glaciers perched up on the high Cascade mountains, feeding said rivers with snowmelt all year round.

Multnomah Falls is often mentioned as one of the must-see waterfalls of Oregon. It's easy to see why. It's the tallest in the region (think over 600 feet!) and reveals millions of years of geological history. That brings the crowds, though, so entry permits are now required for some visitors between May and September. Worthy alternatives include Proxy Falls, a hidden cataract deep within the Willamette National Forest, and the Salt Creek Falls, a plunge fall that's so dramatic it's rated 4.9 stars on Google.

Anyone who's ever ridden the iconic Maid of the Mist under the roaring cataracts of Niagara will know that the state of New York certainly has waterfalls on its roster. Specifically, New York has the second-highest number of falls of anywhere in the country, with a whopping 213 to its name. The trio that make up the aforementioned Niagara Falls are now seen from the Niagara Falls State Park by something like 8 million people each year, but there are also stacks of smaller, more hidden falls dotting the region.

Special mention should be made of the ones at the Watkins Glen State Park, an ethereal, waterfall-filled canyon in the Finger Lakes area. It's got a hiking path on water-soaked steps cut into the cliffs, taking you past a whopping 19 waterfalls in one go! But it's certainly not the only draw in those parts. Just down the road, the huge courses of the Shequaga Falls flow over a stone ridge above the charming Main Street of Montour Falls town.

Meanwhile, The Nature Seeker blog has a whole post dedicated to the most secretive waterfall spots in the Empire State. It points the way to the duo that is the Middle Falls and the Lower Falls of Letchworth State Park. Just an hour outside of Buffalo, the Middle section is the most impressive, clocking up 107 feet in height as it tumbles through the forest-covered sides of the so-called "Grand Canyon of the East."

Michigan is known as The Great Lakes State for the fact that it's absolutely surrounded by water — four of the five Great Lakes border the territory. But it could just as well be nicknamed "The Great Waterfalls State," because according to those trusty USGS numbers, there are 200 separate waterfalls to be found in this 96,713-square-mile slice of the Midwest.

Some of the biggest and most impressive falls await in the region known as the U.P., or the Upper Peninsula, an isolated branch of land where nature reigns supreme — just 3% of Michigan's total population lives there. UPtravel.com, the official website of the Upper Peninsula Travel and Recreation Association, counts around 300 waterfalls in the region alone, which is more than what the USGS lists for the whole state. But regardless of how you're measuring and counting waterfalls, there's no denying there are plenty in attendance.

The largest in the state are up in this untamed, northern wilderness. They come in the form of the Upper Falls of the Tahquamenon Falls State Park, which spans 200 feet from one end to the other. A short hiking path can take you to a lookout right above the rushing water. Meanwhile, the UPtravel.com reveals a series of falls that look stunning in the colder months, such as the Munising Falls, which freeze into a solid block when peak winter hits.

California lays claim to some of the most incredible waterfalls in the United States — or even the whole world. On a recent whirlwind tour of the Sierra Nevada, I could not stop gasping and sighing in awe as I drove, for the first time, through the iconic Yosemite Valley. I looked one way to see Yosemite Falls, one of the highest on the continent, roaring with springtime snowmelt. I looked another to spy out the wispy vapors of Bridalveil Fall spreading across the granite cliffs. And that's not even mentioning the wildly popular Mist Trail hike that takes you within raincoat-needing distance of the huge Vernal Falls.

The thing is, the great waterfalls of Yosemite are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg in the Golden State. The USGS counts just shy of 180 separate falls across the whole territory, which means it has the fourth-highest number overall.

This includes some rather unique falls, too. Picking just a single example, you could head down to the coastal reaches of the Big Sur to discover the McWay Falls tucked into the confines of the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. It roars out from the coastal rainforests straight into the Pacific Ocean. A viewing deck at the top offers spectacular shots of the falls and its adjoining gold-sanded cove. Access to the beachfront itself is prohibited, but it's one to take the breath away.

Bringing up the tail end of this list is Washington, which clocks in with 178 waterfalls, just one less than California. However, by some counts, Washington is the state with the most waterfalls in America — in fact, using different criteria than the USGS could bring the total to a whopping 2,900! To put it another way: There's plenty to get through.

One of the state's waterfalls, Snoqualmie Falls, is often said to be among the most beautiful in the whole country. Thanks to its irresistible place amid the wooded hills of the Washington Cascades, it's a picturesque destination that sees plenty of annual visitors. Palouse Falls is another popular stop, which has carved a mighty canyon out of its namesake river. While there, you can also check out the nearby town of Palouse, a unique, underrated region of lush and rolling hills in the far southeast of the state.

Those might be the big-ticket draws, but there are oodles more besides. The Washington Trails Association, an organization dedicated to connecting people with the great outdoors in the Evergreen State, runs through a dozen hiking paths to a range of different types of waterfalls. Perhaps you'll be tempted by the 2.6-mile round-trip woodland walk to the Falls Creek Falls? Or maybe you'd prefer the short hike to the Tumwater Falls, a lush cascade that's just a few minutes from the state capital? No matter what you're seeking, you'll find an epic waterfall that fits the bill in Washington.

We used the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) run by the USGS to get our list of the states with the most waterfalls. It's a whole database of natural landmarks across the country. Using its feature class search parameter, which lets you search for specific geographical features, we ran a query for all the "Falls" in each individual territory of the United States. Falls are defined by the USGS as any "perpendicular or very steep fall of water in the course of a stream (cascade, cataract, waterfall)." The list seen above is made up of the five states that returned the highest number of falls on the GNIS database.

Depending on how you define a waterfall (how steep does it really have to be?) and whether or not you count unnamed or seasonal waterfalls, it's possible to see different states compete for a spot on this list. But if you're seeking officially named waterfalls across the U.S., these five destinations won't disappoint.