This past weekend I was able to make my way Mammoth Cave National Park and confirm that the state's tallest waterfall, measured so far, is not Yahoo Falls.  The biggest argument here would be, what size watershed is needed to consider a waterfall a true waterfall?  Does it need to flow year round?  You could make the argument that even Yahoo Falls does not do that.  The Forest Service considers Dick Gap Falls to be a waterfall, and has signs for it and it is located on their topographical maps.  It yet only has a watershed of 40 acres.  I have never seen a picture of it with decent flow. 

Yahoo Falls has a watershed of 303 acres.

Yahoo Falls is 108 feet tall, from crest to ground below.

Yahoo Falls

Yahoo Falls

©One Man's Adventure

Flea Cave Hollow Falls on the other hand, was measured at 122 feet tall, from crest to the ground below.  It only has a watershed of 41 acres, close to what Dick Gap Falls has.  Yet I have seen pictures and videos with WAY more water than it had when I visited.  Of course being in Mammoth Cave National Park, means the falls most likely is somewhat spring fed as well.  There are several sinkholes located in the plateau above the waterfall.

Flea Cave Hollow Falls, Edmonson County, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

Flea Cave Hollow Falls

©Chuck Sutherland

I would venture to guess that there are other waterfalls with watersheds similar to Yahoo Falls that rival it in height or exceed it.  The question is have you been to one that you think is higher?  Let me know.

 

Also I have received a few waterfalls that I did not know existed, that readers and viewers alike have submitted.  Please continue to submit any waterfalls that you know of that are not listed.  They have been added to the map and the website as well.

Submit a Waterfall

This website is currently a work in progress.

We would love for you to share and submit a waterfall that is missing from this database.  

Submit a Waterfall

Purpose

The idea of this website is to send you out on an adventure, to become an explorer.  Kentucky is an amazing place that seems to still be as lost and unknown as when Daniel Boone crossed the gap.  Special places are mostly located on privately held lands or only known to locals or a select few.  Surrounding states have a vast amount of waterfalls documented, written about and well known about, yet Kentucky hardly has any documented.  Kentucky has more miles of waterways than any state in the union, other than Alaska.  The geology and elevations of the state vary from place to place hiding these hidden waterfalls.


This is for you, to explore, to find, to dream and to protect the special places of Kentucky.  To pack trash out with you, lending your hand to the effort to stop the vandals that carve names or carry their spray paint or throw their beer cans.  This is a call to let the world know that Kentucky is special, and a call to let the state know that these places must be protected and maintained for all to enjoy.

Take a look at the Geography of Kentucky.

Also make sure to check out the Waterfall Map located in the menu above.

Below is an idea of the sheer amount of waterfalls that are possible to exist in the commonwealth. As you can tell, there are huge possibilities along the Daniel Boone National Forest mountains and along the Kentucky Palisades, a place that must be protected.

As said so eloquently by William Rouse Jillson so long ago in 1924.

"Last but not least among the many notable and scenically attractive portions of Kentucky, some part of the Kentucky River Gorge deserves serious consideration. The most picturesque scenery is found from the vicinity of Camp Nelson down the river past High Bridge to Warwick. In this stretch of twenty-five miles by water the Kentucky River, an age old stream, has entrenched itself about 400 feet in a series of gray-white limestones, the oldest sediments exposed in the State. In this region following graceful meanders which carry one back to ancient days of peneplanation, the Kentucky River offers at most any point an ideal park site. Indeed, one of commercial nature has been maintained by the Southern Railroad at High Bridge opposite the mouth of the Dix River for a number of years."

Special thanks to the following in getting this website up and running (check out their pages):

Bill Fultz of Fultz Fotos for the use of some of his photographs of waterfalls.

Chuck Sutherland for his GIS expertise and answering never ending questions.

Marcus Creasy for his expertise of Kentucky Waterfalls.