Chasing Waterfalls: 5 Easy-to-Reach Falls Worth a Spring Trip

Discover gorgeous American waterfalls with local adventures to match

Idaho’s Shoshone Falls, nicknamed “The Niagara of the West,” is one of America’s road-trip-worthy waterfalls, especially full and beautiful in the spring.

Kyle Green/The Idaho Stateman via AP

Berit Thorkelson,

AARP

Published March 24, 2026

Beautiful waterfalls in the U.S. are easy to access and perfect for spring exploring. Nature awakens joyfully during spring’s thaw, with chirping birds, bursting blooms and snowmelt-fueled waterfalls that tumble out of woods and over cliffs.

A visit to these waterfalls can provide the health benefits granted by spending time in nature. Among them: lowered stress and blood pressure, plus boosted immunity and mood, which are all important to older adults’ vitality.

These five U.S. waterfalls are relatively easy to reach and are near plenty of places for add-on fun. Consider starting your day early to avoid potential crowds, since falls in general are quite popular in spring, when their power and drama hit their peak.

people enjoy a view from behind Dry Falls, in North Carolin

A short walk affords visitors a view from behind 75-foot Dry Falls, in North Carolina’s Nantahala National Forest.

Jose More/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Dry Falls, North Carolina

This beauty along the Cullasaja River, in Nantahala National Forest, about an hour and a half southwest of Asheville, gets its name from its standout draw. Visitors can walk a quarter-mile trail that goes behind the 75-foot falls and remain (mostly) dry, depending on the season. In the spring, especially, expect to encounter some spray.

Colleen Snyder, 59, visited with her mother, who felt comfortable tackling the stairs and appreciated the short walk and view along the way.

“It has a mystical, cavern-like setting, with all the moss and greenery hanging down, and you can feel the mist on your face as you walk behind the waterfall,” Snyder says. “Springtime is a great time of the year to visit, and the morning light is nice there.”

The falls sit just outside the small town of Highlands, with shops and restaurants. (Mountain Fresh Grocery is Snyder’s go-to spot for lunch.) For a more challenging hike, she recommends Whiteside Mountain, about 20 minutes away, for its “incredible views from the top.”

Pick from three beautiful ways to view Shoshone Falls’ broad curtain of water: on a short walk to the viewing platform, on a longer hike along the river canyon rim or from a canoe rented in nearby Centennial Waterfront Park.

Getty Images

Shoshone Falls, Idaho

Shoshone has a Niagara Falls feel, the way its broad, multitiered curtain of water drops into a river gorge, exploding in a cloud of foam and mist. Shoshone’s far narrower than its East Coast counterpart, but at 212 feet, it’s 24 feet taller.

A park road leads into the canyon, where there’s an easy-access falls overlook platform. The relatively level 8.2-mile Canyon Rim Trail affords alternate vantage points, as well as a peek at the site of Evel Knievel’s highly publicized (though failed) jump across the Snake River Canyon in 1974.

a black and white photo of Shoshone Falls

A member of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers captured this view of Shoshone Falls in 1886.

Timothy O'Sullivan/Library of Congress

For a more immersive experience of the falls, head to Centennial Waterfront Park in the canyon, on the edge of the nearby city of Twin Falls. Here, visitors swim and hike. They also rent canoes, kayaks and paddleboards for river trips upstream toward the falls.

In Twin Falls, the restaurant Elevation 486 serves up Snake River Canyon views as well as burgers, steaks, salads and locally smoked Idaho trout.

Minnehaha Falls is the easy-to-reach centerpiece in sprawling Minnehaha Park. Visitors and locals pair viewing it with patio time at Sea Salt, mere feet from the waterfall.

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Minnehaha Falls, Minnesota

These 53-foot, creek-fed falls plummet over limestone bluffs in Minneapolis proper, serving as the centerpiece of the city’s popular 167-acre Minnehaha Park. The falls’ stone-walled overlook lines an easy-access paved trail, a short walk from the park’s pay lot. A steep staircase takes you to a path past the waterfall’s foot, which connects to the park’s — then the Twin Cities’ — greater web of trails.

“You can follow the creek all the way to the Mississippi River. It’s one of the most beautiful walks in the city,” says Gen Xer Frank Bures, a local travel writer. “The place has an energy that kind of sums up everything there is to love about Minneapolis.”

No trip to Minnehaha is complete without a visit to Sea Salt, the alfresco park concessions stand serving po’boys, crab cakes and oysters on the half shell, plus locally brewed pints and ice cream, mere feet from the falls. It opens in April, as soon as Minnesota’s weather permits.

A paved one-mile wheelchair-accessible loop leads visitors to the lowest of the three sets of falls making up 2,435-foot Yosemite Falls, among North America’s tallest.

Courtesy Aramark Destinations

Yosemite Falls, California

At 2,425 feet, Yosemite Falls, in its namesake national park, is among North America’s tallest. But don’t let that fact intimidate you. It’s actually three falls in one — an upper, middle and lower set — and the trail to the lower is a paved, one-mile, wheelchair-accessible loop lined with benches that cross a footbridge at the falls’ base. Bryan Hammill, vice president of operations at Yosemite Hospitality, which manages the park’s lodging, dining and recreation activities, calls it one of the most approachable walks in Yosemite Valley.

“The path winds through a shaded forest before opening to stunning views of the falls,” Hammill says. “In spring, you can feel the cool mist and hear the thunder of the water as snowmelt pours over the cliffs above.” He recommends a light jacket on account of that mist.

There’s plenty more to do during your visit — this is a 1,200-square-mile park, after all, as well as one of the country’s oldest. Consider an open-air tram tour of the park valley’s floor, a guided experience that hits the park’s highlights, including El Capitan, a 3,000-foot granite monolith, and Bridalveil Fall.

a rainbow over Cumberland Falls in Kentucky

Cumberland Falls in Kentucky are known for their beauty as well as their tendency to harbor the perfect conditions for a lunar rainbow, or moonbow.

Getty Images

Cumberland Falls, Kentucky

Waterfall mist creates beautiful rainbows. But for something really unique, check out the lunar rainbow, or moonbow, which can be found in the curtain falls of the Cumberland River. They’re in Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, part of the surrounding 706,000-acre Daniel Boone National Forest in eastern Kentucky.

The moonbow requires precise conditions: a clear sky, a full moon’s worth of light and plenty of mist, which tends to be at its thickest in the spring. The falls overlook is a short, paved walk from the main parking lot. The park’s 1.8-mile Eagle Falls Trail on the other side of the river offers a more secluded — and moderately challenging — view.

Natural wonders abound in the forest, including hundreds of natural sandstone arches and the 78-foot-long Natural Bridge, a Kentucky icon in the adjacent Natural Bridge State Park.

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Berit Thorkelson is a travel writer and editor for aarp.org. She has also written for publications such as National Geographic Traveler, Better Homes & Gardens and The Minnesota Star Tribune’s travel section.

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