The 10 Best Waterfalls in Nevada
The driest state in the country keeps its waterfalls in three places: the Sierra front around Reno and Carson City, the glacier-carved Ruby Mountains near Elko, and the desert canyons around Las Vegas. Each cluster works on a different clock — spring snowmelt in the north, winter rain and spring melt in the Mojave.
Two famous names are missing on purpose. Mary Jane Falls and Big Falls at Mt. Charleston — the best-known waterfalls in southern Nevada — have been closed since the 2023 storm damage from Hurricane Hilary, with no reopening date. Until the Forest Service reopens them, they don't belong on a go-visit list. Little Falls, their spring-fed neighbor, is the Mt. Charleston hike that's actually open.
One more worth knowing: First Creek Canyon at Red Rock hides a seasonal waterfall of its own, and Reno's Mt. Rose Wilderness has a second, unrelated Thomas Creek with its own small falls — Nevada recycles creek names shamelessly. Check flow before any long drive; half these falls are seasonal.
The easiest waterfall in Nevada: a 25-foot spring-fed cascade a quarter mile from a trailhead five minutes out of downtown Carson City. Free, year-round flow — and no dogs, by city law, to protect the drinking-water creek.
Directions, season & rules for Kings Canyon Falls →Reno's classic: 5.9 miles round trip up Hunter Creek to a 30-foot falls with a granite-ringed swimming hole at the base. Free, leashed-dog friendly, busy on summer weekends for good reason.
Directions, season & rules for Hunter Creek Falls →
An alpine falls on the Mt. Rose trail system that holds snow-fed flow deep into summer — 20 to 30 visible feet, closer to 85 by lidar. The longest reliable season on the Sierra front.
Directions, season & rules for Galena Creek Falls →The Ruby Mountains' best day hike: 4.4 miles round trip from Thomas Canyon Campground past near-continuous cascades to a 25-foot falls and a meadow under 11,220-foot Mt. Fitzgerald. Late September turns the whole canyon aspen-gold.
Directions, season & rules for Thomas Creek Falls →The only waterfall you can legally hike to at Mt. Charleston right now — a 30-to-50-foot spring-fed cascade, 0.8 miles round trip, that keeps flowing after the snowmelt falls quit.
Directions, season & rules for Little Falls →
Red Rock Canyon's winter secret: a canyon-back waterfall that runs December through April, 2.4 miles round trip through a boulder-filled gorge. $20 per vehicle, timed entry October through May.
Directions, season & rules for Icebox Canyon Falls →
The family pick at Red Rock: 0.6 miles round trip to a seasonal falls tucked under a shaded alcove. Skip the scramble to the upper falls — people have died on that exposure.
Directions, season & rules for Lost Creek Falls →A 140-foot chain of cascades deep in Ruby Mountains Wilderness, on a trail still healing from the 2018 Range 2 Fire. Quieter than Thomas Canyon, wilder, and honest about its burn scars.
Directions, season & rules for Right Fork Cascades →Eastern Nevada's surprise: a 2.4-mile Waterfall Trail loop at remote Beaver Dam State Park, $5 a vehicle, in a juniper canyon most Nevadans have never seen.
Directions, season & rules for Water and Ice Falls →For backpackers: the snowmelt falls just north of Overland Lake on the Ruby Crest Trail — famous among thru-hikers as the last reliable water for the next 11-plus miles.
Directions, season & rules for Overland Basin Falls →Rankings reflect our research, not a verdict on your trip — every spot page takes community ratings and conditions reports, and that's where the real answer to "is it worth it?" lives.