Waterfalls in Colorado

Overview of waterfalls in Colorado

The managers include a private company, three cities, a county, the state, the Forest Service and the National Park Service. A Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) pass helps only at Rifle Falls.

In Rocky Mountain National Park, Alberta Falls is 0.8 mile one way from Glacier Gorge Trailhead on Bear Lake Road, per the National Park Service (NPS). Ouzel Falls in Wild Basin is a longer hike, listed at 5.4 miles round trip on a former NPS page. Both need a park entrance pass, and dogs are not allowed on park trails.

Seven Falls is a ticketed private park where seven cascades add up to 181 feet, per Wikipedia. Helen Hunt Falls drops about 35 feet, per Wikipedia, in the city's North Cheyenne Cañon Park, next to a small parking lot.

The route to St. Mary's Falls starts on closed Gold Camp Road, above Helen Hunt Falls. The USFS rates Trail #624 moderate and says the falls cascade 250 to 300 feet down a granite wall. Rainbow Falls in Manitou Springs is a 50-foot plunge on Fountain Creek under a 1932 U.S. Highway 24 arch bridge, per El Paso County Parks. As far as we can tell, it is closed for the season (Nov 7, 2026).

Rifle Falls near Rifle is a triple waterfall over a travertine dam, in a CPW state park. In Ouray, Box Canyon Falls drops about 285 feet inside a narrow canyon, per the City of Ouray, which owns and runs the park. Independent guides, including the World Waterfall Database, put its main drop nearer 85 to 95 feet.

Maxwell Falls, on Maxwell Creek, is open, as far as we can tell, per the Forest Service alerts list on Nov 7, 2026. The status of the 2021 Maxwell Falls order is unclear. Its listed end date, May 11, 2026, has passed, but the alert is still listed. These pages don't settle whether its four rules still apply.

No fee is listed for Maxwell on the Forest Service pages we read. Call 970-295-6600 before you go. For falls ranked by straight-line distance from the city, see our guide to waterfalls near Denver.

Fees and passes at Colorado waterfalls

Seven Falls and Box Canyon Falls charge admission, Rifle Falls needs a CPW vehicle pass, and the city's Helen Hunt Falls page lists no fee. Alberta Falls and Ouzel Falls need a Rocky Mountain National Park entrance pass. Fish Creek Falls has a Forest Service day-use fee. Rainbow Falls in Manitou Springs charged $20 per car for parking and a shuttle in 2026, and no fee is listed for St. Mary's Falls.

Rocky Mountain National Park (NPS): an entrance pass is always required. A private vehicle pass is $30 for 1 day or $35 for 7 days. On foot or bike, it is $15 per person for 1 day, and the park annual pass is $70. NPS takes debit or credit cards only.

Seven Falls (private, The Broadmoor): paid admission. The official rates page lists online adult tickets at $25 for 9am-1pm entry or $21 for 2pm-7pm. Walk-up tickets cost $2 more. Everyone parks free at Norris Penrose Event Center and rides a free shuttle.

Rifle Falls (CPW state park): CPW lists a daily vehicle pass at $10-$12 for Colorado plates and $15-$17 for out-of-state plates. On foot, bike or horse, it is $4 per person. Annual passes are $80 per vehicle or $120 for a family. The CPW page doesn't say which year these prices apply to.

City parks: Helen Hunt Falls (Colorado Springs) and Box Canyon Falls (Ouray) are city parks, so CPW passes don't apply. The city's Helen Hunt Falls page lists no entrance or parking fee. Box Canyon Falls is a paid park. Per the City of Ouray, 2026 admission is $8 for ages 18 to 62, $7 for ages 62 to 74 and $6 for ages 4 to 17. It is free for ages 75 and older and 3 and under.

Rainbow Falls in Manitou Springs (El Paso County Parks): in 2026, the county charged $20 per car. The fee covered parking at Higginbotham Flats and the shuttle to the falls. The site is closed for the season, as far as we can tell (Nov 7, 2026), and 2027 fees were not posted.

Fish Creek Falls (Forest Service): USFS charges a $5 per vehicle day-use fee, paid by credit card or cash on site. It also lists a $30 annual pass, sold in advance on Recreation.gov.

Maxwell Falls (Forest Service): no fee is listed on the Forest Service pages we read. The Colorado Mountain Club's route page has a "Parking Permit Required" field that links to a general Forest Service permits page. Call 970-295-6600 to confirm.

St. Mary's Falls (Forest Service): no fee is listed on the USFS Trail #624 page or on the city's North Cheyenne Cañon Park page, where you park.

Waterfalls in and near Colorado Springs

Four of the Colorado falls on this site are in or near Colorado Springs. Seven Falls is a ticketed private park, and the city lists no fee for Helen Hunt Falls. St. Mary's Falls is on Forest Service land above Helen Hunt, and Rainbow Falls is in Manitou Springs, in a county park.

• Seven Falls: seven cascades totaling 181 feet on South Cheyenne Creek, in a ticketed park owned by The Broadmoor. Visitors park at Norris Penrose Event Center and ride a free shuttle. The Main Falls Stairs have 224 steps to the top.
• Helen Hunt Falls: about 35 feet, per Wikipedia, on North Cheyenne Creek in the city's North Cheyenne Cañon Park. The falls are visible from the lot, and the city lists no fee. Silver Cascade Falls is about 0.3 mile from the visitor center, per the city.
• St. Mary's Falls: 250 to 300 feet down a granite wall, per the USFS, on Buffalo Canyon Creek in the Pike National Forest. The route starts on closed Gold Camp Road above Helen Hunt Falls and follows Trail #624, which the USFS rates moderate. No fee is listed, and it is open, as far as we can tell (Nov 7, 2026).
• Rainbow Falls in Manitou Springs: a 50-foot plunge on Fountain Creek under the 1932 U.S. Highway 24 arch bridge, per El Paso County Parks. There is no parking at the falls. In 2026, visitors parked at Higginbotham Flats and rode a shuttle for $20 per car. The site is closed for the season, as far as we can tell (Nov 7, 2026). Leashed dogs are allowed.

The Helen Hunt lot holds about 30 vehicles, per Wikipedia, and buses and RVs aren't allowed on North Cheyenne Cañon Road. Hikers bound for St. Mary's Falls use the Powell parking area just above Helen Hunt Falls, per the USFS. For falls ranked by straight-line distance from the city, see our guide to waterfalls near Colorado Springs.

Rocky Mountain National Park: Bear Lake Road and Wild Basin

Two falls on this site are in Rocky Mountain National Park. Both are open, as far as we can tell, as of November 4, 2026. An entrance pass is always required, and NPS says pets are prohibited on all park trails.

Alberta Falls is on Glacier Creek, 0.8 mile one way from Glacier Gorge Trailhead on Bear Lake Road, per the NPS. NPS says the Glacier Gorge Parking Area fills early each day. In 2026, the free Bear Lake Shuttle ran May 22 to October 18, and it is not running in November.

Ouzel Falls is on Ouzel Creek in Wild Basin, the park's southeast corner. The Park Service's former Ouzel Falls page, now offline, listed 5.4 miles round trip with 950 feet of gain. The trail passes Copeland Falls and Calypso Cascades. The park's shuttles don't serve Wild Basin.

Timed entry. In 2026, the Timed Entry+ Bear Lake Road reservation applied from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., May 22 to October 18. Wild Basin used the park-wide window, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., May 22 to October 12. No timed entry is needed in November 2026, and NPS had not posted 2027 dates.

Ice. The NPS trail report of October 22, 2026 warns of snow or ice above 9,000 feet, and it says the trail near Alberta Falls could be icy. Ouzel Falls sits at about 9,498 feet, per GNIS figures in Wikipedia.

Boulder Falls in Boulder Canyon: closed

Boulder Falls on North Boulder Creek is closed. The City of Boulder closed the area in November 2024 after a rockslide damaged the trail. On January 16, 2026, the city said "Until the new access is in place, Boulder Falls remains completely closed." Its trail page still showed "Status: Closed" on November 4, 2026.

The city plans a new viewing platform and said a 2026 feasibility study will inform the cost and schedule. It has set no reopening date. Do not enter the closed area, because the city warns of a very high risk of future rockfall.

Colorado waterfalls you can drive to

Five Colorado falls on this site are near a road or parking area, though Seven Falls takes a 0.8-mile walk up a paved road. Helen Hunt Falls is visible from its parking lot.

• Helen Hunt Falls: the city says the falls are visible from the lot, with a short walk to a bridge over the top.
• Box Canyon Falls: the City of Ouray calls the Falls Trail a mostly level, easy 500-foot walk into the canyon. It has stairs, and only the Native Plant Loop has no steps.
• Rifle Falls: CPW says the 1.5-mile Coyote Trail is ADA accessible to the base of the falls.
• Seven Falls: the official FAQ puts the base about 0.8 mile up a paved canyon road from the shuttle drop-off. A golf cart runs to about 100 yards from the base.
• Fish Creek Falls: the Forest Service describes a wheelchair-accessible overlook trail, which the Steamboat Springs Chamber puts at about ¼ mile one way. USFS charges a $5 per vehicle day-use fee.

Waterfalls in western Colorado: Rifle Falls and Ouray

Rifle Falls is in Garfield County near Rifle, where CPW describes three 60-foot waterfalls. Box Canyon Falls is in Ouray, in a park the city owns. Box Canyon is closed November to April, while Rifle Falls is open daily.

Colorado waterfall closures and conditions (fall 2026)

As far as we can tell, Helen Hunt Falls, Seven Falls and Rifle Falls were open as of October 28, 2026. Box Canyon Falls in Ouray is closed for the season, as far as we can tell (Nov 7, 2026). The city closes it each year from November to April. Rainbow Falls in Manitou Springs is also closed for the season, as far as we can tell (Nov 7, 2026).

• Helen Hunt Falls: open, as far as we can tell. The city's North Cheyenne Cañon Park page, checked October 28, 2026, lists no closure, only standing notices about winter ice and a ban on buses and RVs. A June 6, 2026 storm closed North Cheyenne Cañon Road and Gold Camp Road; they reopened July 1 and July 2, 2026, the Gazette reported. Check the city parks site after heavy rain, and expect ice in winter.
• St. Mary's Falls: open, as far as we can tell, on November 7, 2026. The USFS Trail #624 page, updated August 14, 2025, lists no closure. The city warns of ice in North Cheyenne Cañon, and the road may close for snow removal.
• Seven Falls: open, as far as we can tell, on its late-fall 2026 schedule. It runs Friday to Sunday, 9am to 5pm, from October 23 to November 29, plus November 26 and 27 for Thanksgiving. Seven Falls had posted no winter schedule as of October 28, 2026.
• Rainbow Falls in Manitou Springs: closed for the season, as far as we can tell, on November 7, 2026. That day the El Paso County Parks page read, "The Site is now closed for the season." The county says the closure began September 28, and it had not posted a 2027 reopening date.
• Rifle Falls: open, as far as we can tell. CPW's park page said there were no closures when checked October 28, 2026. The park is open daily, 6am to 10pm, and the campground stays open in winter at limited capacity, by reservation.
• Box Canyon Falls: closed for the season. The City of Ouray closes Box Cañon Falls Park each year from November to April. Its 2026 fall hours ran 9am to 5pm from Labor Day through November 2.
• Alberta Falls and Ouzel Falls: open, as far as we can tell, on November 4, 2026. The NPS pages we read listed no closure, but its October 22 trail report warns of snow or ice above 9,000 feet.
• Fish Creek Falls: open, as far as we can tell. On November 3, 2026, the USFS picnic site page showed "Site Open". USFS closes the footbridge and about four miles of Fish Creek Trail #1102 each year from April 1 to July 1.
• Maxwell Falls: open, as far as we can tell, on November 7, 2026. The Arapaho and Roosevelt alerts list named no closure for it. The status of its 2021 restriction order is unclear, so call 970-295-6600.
• Boulder Falls: closed. On January 16, 2026, the City of Boulder said "Boulder Falls remains completely closed" until new access is in place, and it has set no reopening date.

Colorado waterfall planning tips: parking, stairs and crowds

Parking, stairs and crowds are the main planning limits at Helen Hunt Falls, Seven Falls and Rifle Falls, per the City of Colorado Springs, Seven Falls and CPW.

• Helen Hunt Falls has a small lot. Wikipedia says it holds about 30 vehicles and fills in summer. Buses, RVs and oversized vehicles aren't allowed on North Cheyenne Cañon Road.
• Don't count on rideshare in the canyon. The city says there's no cell service at Helen Hunt Falls and advises against relying on Uber or Lyft.
• Budget time and stairs at Seven Falls. The Main Falls Stairs have 224 steps, and the park says visits average 2 to 2.5 hours.
• Rifle Falls has an accessible route. CPW says the Coyote Trail is ADA accessible to the base of the falls. Leashed dogs can use all three trails, but not the adjacent state wildlife area.
• Expect Rifle Falls to be busy in summer. CPW says parking can be limited then.
• Keep dogs leashed near Colorado Springs. El Paso County Parks requires leashes at Rainbow Falls in Manitou Springs. The city allows leashed dogs on North Cheyenne Cañon Park trails, but the USFS page gives no dog rule for Trail #624.

Colorado waterfalls FAQ