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American Falls

New York · 188-foot drop · Last verified 2026-05-15

Today at American Falls: slight chance rain showers, 66°F. July averages 4.8" of precipitation here — expect high flow.

Right now

Overnight

66°F

Slight Chance Rain Showers

Friday

80°F

Chance Rain Showers then Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms

Today's daylight

Sunrise 5:46 AM · Sunset 8:56 PM · 15h 11m

AQI: 46 (Good) · PM2.5 5.3 µg/m³

Snapshot built 13m ago. Sources: NWS BUF.

American Falls is the 188-foot US-side waterfall of the three falls that together form Niagara Falls — second-largest after Horseshoe Falls. 950 feet wide. Entirely within New York state, in Niagara Falls State Park (the oldest state park in the US). Often combined with Bridal Veil Falls just to its east. The 'visible drop' is shorter (70-110 ft) because much of the bottom is buried under a talus pile from a 1954 rockfall.

The American Falls is the second largest of the three waterfalls that together are known as Niagara Falls on the Niagara River along the Canada–United States border. Unlike the much larger Horseshoe Falls, of which approximately 90% is in Ontario, Canada, and 10% in the U.S. state of New York, the American Falls is entirely within the United States.
— Wikipedia, “American Falls”

Sources disagree on height

Different sources report different values for this waterfall's drop. We list them all so you can judge. Our headline number is the one we consider best-sourced.

Source	Height	Note
Wikipedia + USGS	188 ft · 57 m	188 ft from the top of the falls to the river surface below. The visible drop from the lip to the talus/rock pile is only 70-110 ft because the rocks fill much of the gorge — Britannica cites 180-190 ft as the often-quoted figure.
OSM	112 ft · 34 m	OSM measures top of falls to top of rock pile, not to river surface.
Wikidata	361 ft · 110 m	Wikidata 361 ft (110m) appears wrong — possibly conflating American Falls with the Niagara Escarpment cliff height.

Is the water flowing right now?

Most waterfall sites don't tell you this. The waterfall itself is almost never gauged, but a USGS streamgage in the same watershed can tell you whether snowmelt has started, peaked, or run dry.

USGS gage 04216070 · 13.3 mi away
NIAGARA RIVER AT FORT ERIE ONTARIO CANADA
— Distant gauge — proxy reading, not on the same drainage.
View live discharge data →

When to go (from the climate data, not our opinion)

Monthly averages from Open-Meteo's reanalysis dataset (2020–2024). Highlighted months are when we think the waterfall is at its best — but the numbers are the numbers regardless.

Month	High °F	Low °F	Precip (in)	Snow days
Jan	34	23	3.6	19.2
Feb	36	21	2.8	15.8
Mar	46	30	2.9	8.4
Apr	56	37	4.3	5.2
May	68	48	2.7	0.6
Jun	77	60	3.7	0
Jul	80	65	4.8	0
Aug	79	64	4.3	0
Sep	72	58	3.4	0
Oct	61	48	3.6	0.8
Nov	49	37	2.8	6.4
Dec	40	29	3.7	11.4

Source: Open-Meteo Historical Weather API · ERA5 reanalysis 2020–2024.

Live webcams

Operated by the park or a local utility — check current conditions before driving.

Niagara Falls Live →
Niagara Falls Live

Compare to nearby falls

If this one isn't the right fit, here's how it stacks up against the closest documented falls. Every column is filterable on the site — not buried in 13,000 reviews.

Waterfall	Distance	Height	Trail	Dogs	Fee
American Falls (this page)	—	188 ft	—	—	—
Bridal Veil Falls	0 mi	180 ft	—	—	—
Niagara Falls	0 mi	—	—	—	—
Glen Falls	18 mi	30 ft	—	—	—
Indian Falls	19 mi	—	—	—	—
Royalton Falls	25 mi	—	—	—	—

Side-by-side comparisons

American Falls compared head-to-head with other documented falls — height, access, fees, dogs, swimmability in one row each.

Related waterfalls

Similar height (~188 ft)

Questions visitors ask about American Falls

Answers built from our structured data. If a question isn't here, the fact is unverified — we'd rather omit than guess.

How tall is American Falls?

American Falls is 188 feet (57 m) tall. Source heights disagree by source — see the discrepancy box on the page.

How far is American Falls from a major city?

American Falls is 3 miles from Niagara Falls (about 4 minutes' drive).

More waterfalls in New York

Where it is

43.0847, -79.0694

Sources and live status

Where we got the data, and where to check current conditions before you drive.

Last verified by Fallspots: 2026-05-15

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Marina and Theo verify pages one road trip at a time. If you've been to American Falls recently, your local knowledge improves the page for everyone. Pick the kind of contribution that fits — every email lands in our inbox and gets read (and credited when we publish).

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