Thunderhead Falls
South Dakota · height not recorded · Last verified 2026-05-15
Today at Thunderhead Falls: mostly clear, 58°F.
Right now
Overnight
58°F
Mostly Clear
Friday
91°F
Sunny then Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms
Today's daylight
Sunrise 6:20 AM · Sunset 9:37 PM · 15h 18m
Snapshot built 5m ago. Sources: NWS UNR.
No verified photo yet
Thunderhead Falls is a waterfall in Pennington County, South Dakota. 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.
Thunderhead Falls sits in Pennington County, South Dakota. The base sits at roughly 4,110 feet of elevation. Drive time is about 3 minutes from Johnson Siding. No mapped trail runs within 200 meters — expect bushwhacking or off-trail navigation to reach the lip. No public parking is recorded within 2 km, so a longer approach is likely. It draws modest visitor attention — busier weekends, quiet weekdays. Source records come from OpenStreetMap and USGS GNIS.
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 06412200 · 3.2 mi away
RAPID CREEK ABV VICTORIA CREEK NR RAPID CITY, SD
View live discharge data →
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderhead Falls (this page) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grizzly Bear Falls | 14 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Spearfish Falls | 33 mi | 47 ft | easy · 0.7 mi | Y | Free |
| Roughlock Falls | 33 mi | 59 ft | — | Y | Free |
| Bridal Veil Falls | 34 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Mirror Creek Falls | 46 mi | 7 ft | — | — | — |
Questions visitors ask about Thunderhead Falls
Answers built from our structured data. If a question isn't here, the fact is unverified — we'd rather omit than guess.
How far is Thunderhead Falls from a major city?
Thunderhead Falls is 2 miles from Johnson Siding (about 3 minutes' drive).
More waterfalls in South Dakota
Where it is
44.0576, -103.4132
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 Thunderhead 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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