Falling Waters: The Park With Florida’s Tallest Waterfall

Florida is famously flat, which makes the surprise at Falling Waters State Park even better: a stream that vanishes over the edge of a deep, fern-lined sinkhole and falls seventy-three feet straight down, the tallest waterfall in the state.

A Waterfall in Flat Florida

Falling Waters sits near Chipley in the Panhandle, in a corner of the state with actual hills. Its star is the Falling Waters Sink, a cylindrical pit about a hundred feet deep and twenty feet wide, carved into the limestone. A small creek pours over the rim and disappears into the dark below, where the water drains into the underground aquifer. Exactly where it goes after that is still something of a mystery.

More Than the Falls

A boardwalk and stairs lead you safely to viewing platforms around the sink, past other smaller sinkholes scattered through the woods. The park sits on one of the highest points in Florida, and its trails wind through pine forest and butterfly gardens. There is a small lake for swimming in summer, a campground, and wildflowers in season. After heavy rain the falls run strong; in a dry spell they can slow to a trickle, so timing matters.

Plan Your Visit

Falling Waters State Park is just south of Interstate 10 near Chipley, an easy stop between Tallahassee and Pensacola, and is open year round from eight in the morning until sunset. Come after a good rain for the fullest flow, wear sturdy shoes for the stairs, and bring water in summer. It is a short visit but a memorable one, the place that proves Florida has a waterfall after all.

Official page: Falling Waters State Park