Phantom Falls
California · 164-foot drop · Last verified 2026-05-15
Today at Phantom Falls: clear, 72°F.
Right now
Overnight
72°F
Clear
Friday
91°F
Sunny
Today's daylight
Sunrise 5:47 AM · Sunset 8:35 PM · 14h 48m
Snapshot built 6m ago. Sources: NWS STO.
Phantom Falls is a waterfall in California. It drops roughly 164 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.
Phantom Falls is in California. The base sits at roughly 1,223 feet of elevation. Drive time is about 4 minutes from Cherokee. OpenStreetMap shows a trail within 20 meters of the marked location, though the name isn't recorded. 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.
Phantom Falls or Coal Canyon Falls is a waterfall at Coal Canyon near Oroville, California, within the North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve. The waterfall is 166 feet (51 m) high and runs off the edge of Coal Canyon, in front of a grotto. A small pool at the bottom is home to a California newt subspecies, the Coastal Range newt. As a seasonal waterfall, Phantom Falls runs only during the rainy months, late autumn to early spring. It is named Phantom Falls because it disappears during the dry season.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phantom Falls (this page) | — | 164 ft | — | — | — |
| Little Phantom Falls | 0 mi | 124 ft | — | — | — |
| Ravine Falls | 0 mi | 76 ft | — | — | — |
| Ravine Twin Falls | 0 mi | 20 ft | — | — | — |
| Ravine Twin Falls | 0 mi | 46 ft | — | — | — |
| Lower Ravine Falls | 1 mi | 40 ft | — | — | — |
Related waterfalls
Similar height (~164 ft)
- Big Lost Falls164 ft
- Black Star Canyon Falls164 ft
- Boulderfield Falls164 ft
- Rainbow Falls164 ft
- Rio en Medio Falls164 ft
Questions visitors ask about Phantom 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 Phantom Falls?
Phantom Falls is 164 feet (50 m) tall. Height is sourced from OSM.
How far is Phantom Falls from a major city?
Phantom Falls is 3 miles from Cherokee (about 4 minutes' drive).
More waterfalls in California
Where it is
39.6105, -121.5607
Sources and live status
Where we got the data, and where to check current conditions before you drive.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_Falls
Wikidata (Q7180563)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7180563
Last verified by Fallspots: 2026-05-15
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