Beaver Chief Falls
Montana · height not recorded · Glacier National Park · Last verified 2026-05-15
Beaver Chief Falls is running at 1,830 cfs — well above seasonal normal. September averages 2 snow days here.
Right now
Streamflow
1,830 cfs
M F Flathead River · 1h ago
Overnight
40°F
Mostly Clear
Thursday
51°F
Slight Chance Light Rain then Mostly Sunny
Today's daylight
Sunrise 7:04 AM · Sunset 8:00 PM · 12h 56m
Other park alerts
- Two Medicine North Shore Trailhead Reroute(Information)
- Going-to-the-Sun Road is Open for 2026 Season(Information)
Snapshot built 18m ago. Sources: USGS · NWS MSO.
Beaver Chief Falls is a waterfall in Flathead County, Montana. Height has not been officially recorded. Access details and conditions have not yet been verified in person by Fallspots — the data on this page comes from OpenStreetMap and USGS GNIS.
Beaver Chief Falls sits in Flathead County, Montana. The falls are inside Glacier National Park, a US National Park. The base sits at roughly 5,815 feet of elevation. Drive time is about 18 minutes from West Glacier. A trail — Gunsight Pass Trail — runs within 690 meters of the marked location. No public parking is recorded within 2 km, so a longer approach is likely. This is one of the more frequently visited falls in the state by our popularity model. Source records come from OpenStreetMap and USGS GNIS.
Beaver Chief Falls is a waterfall located in Glacier National Park, Montana, US. The falls emerge at the top of a hanging valley just beyond the outflow for Lake Ellen Wilson and descend in a series of braided drops a distance of nearly 1,300 feet (400 m), the tallest of which is recorded as being a straight drop of 517 ft (158 m). Below the hanging valley lies Lincoln Lake, where the cascades end. Somewhat inaccessible, the falls require a nearly 20-mile (32 km) round-trip hike to visit.
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 12358500 · 13.1 mi away
M F Flathead River near West Glacier MT
— Distant gauge — proxy reading, not on the same drainage.
View live discharge data →
30-day streamflow
Above 30-day average↻ Same date last year: 438 cfs · 463% of last year — significantly wetter
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 | 25 | 14 | 4.1 | 22.4 |
| Feb | 25 | 11 | 4.5 | 21.6 |
| Mar | 34 | 18 | 3.3 | 19.2 |
| Apr | 41 | 23 | 2.8 | 15.8 |
| May | 51 | 32 | 4.1 | 10 |
| Jun | 62 | 41 | 4.1 | 2.6 |
| Jul | 74 | 51 | 0.9 | 0.2 |
| Aug | 72 | 50 | 2.4 | 0.2 |
| Sep | 63 | 44 | 2.6 | 2 |
| Oct | 47 | 30 | 4 | 11 |
| Nov | 31 | 18 | 5.6 | 19.8 |
| Dec | 26 | 15 | 4.6 | 22.6 |
Source: Open-Meteo Historical Weather API · ERA5 reanalysis 2020–2024.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaver Chief Falls (this page) | — | — | — | N | — |
| Feather Woman Falls | 1 mi | — | — | N | — |
| Beaver Medicine Falls | 2 mi | — | — | N | — |
| Akaiyan Falls | 2 mi | — | — | N | — |
| Monument Falls | 4 mi | — | — | N | — |
| Siksika Falls | 4 mi | — | — | N | — |
Questions visitors ask about Beaver Chief Falls
Answers built from our structured data. If a question isn't here, the fact is unverified — we'd rather omit than guess.
Is Beaver Chief Falls in a national or state park?
Yes — Beaver Chief Falls is inside Glacier National Park. See the park page for fees, hours, and current conditions.
Can I bring my dog to Beaver Chief Falls?
No — dogs are not allowed on trails here. Most National Park trails prohibit pets to protect wildlife. Service animals are an exception per ADA.
How far is Beaver Chief Falls from a major city?
Beaver Chief Falls is 12 miles from West Glacier (about 18 minutes' drive).
More waterfalls in Montana
Where it is
48.5939, -113.7644
Sources and live status
Where we got the data, and where to check current conditions before you drive.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver_Chief_Falls
Wikidata (Q85746203)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85746203
GeoNames (5639117)
https://www.geonames.org/5639117/
Last verified by Fallspots: 2026-05-15
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