High Falls
New York · 95-foot drop · Last verified 2026-05-15
High Falls is running at 623 cfs — well above seasonal normal.
Right now
Streamflow
623 cfs
GENESEE RIVER AT FORD · 38m ago
Today
67°F
Sunny
Tonight
45°F
Partly Cloudy
Today's daylight
Sunrise 7:35 AM · Sunset 6:13 PM · 10h 37m
Snapshot built 12m ago. Sources: USGS · NWS BUF.
High Falls is a waterfall in Monroe County, New York. It drops roughly 95 feet. Access details and conditions have not yet been verified in person by Fallspots — the data on this page comes from OpenStreetMap and USGS GNIS.
High Falls sits in Monroe County, New York. It drops along The High Falls or Upper Falls are a waterfall on the Genesee River. The base sits at roughly 476 feet of elevation. Drive time is about 1 minutes from Rochester. OpenStreetMap shows a trail within 70 meters of the marked location, though the name isn't recorded. This is one of the more frequently visited falls in the state by our popularity model. Source records come from OpenStreetMap and USGS GNIS.
The High Falls or Upper Falls are a waterfall on the Genesee River in the city of Rochester, New York. They are one of three waterfalls within the city; the Middle and Lower Falls are about 2 miles (3.2 km) downstream. The High Falls area was the site of much of Rochester's early industrial development, where industry was powered by falling water. Brown's Race diverts water from above the falls and was used to feed various flour mills and industries; today the water is used to produce hydroelectric power.
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 04231600 · 1.4 mi away
GENESEE RIVER AT FORD STREET BRIDGE, ROCHESTER NY
View live discharge data →
30-day streamflow
Above 30-day average↻ Same date last year: 867 cfs · 94% of last year — similar
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Falls (this page) | — | 95 ft | — | — | — |
| Upper Falls | 1 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Middle Falls | 1 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Lower Falls | 1 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Norton’s Falls | 2 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Densmore Falls | 4 mi | — | — | — | — |
Side-by-side comparisons
High Falls compared head-to-head with other documented falls — height, access, fees, dogs, swimmability in one row each.
Related waterfalls
Similar height (~95 ft)
- Cedar Falls95 ft
- Four Mile Falls95 ft
- Frontenac Falls95 ft
- Silver Falls95 ft
- Ganoga Falls94 ft
Questions visitors ask about High 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 High Falls?
High Falls is 95 feet (29 m) tall. Height is sourced from OSM.
How far is High Falls from a major city?
High Falls is 1 miles from Rochester (about 1 minutes' drive).
More waterfalls in New York
Where it is
43.1613, -77.6134
Sources and live status
Where we got the data, and where to check current conditions before you drive.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Falls_(Rochester%2C_New_York)
Wikidata (Q37538)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37538
Last verified by Fallspots: 2026-05-15
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