No single agency publishes a park-by-park waterfall census for the entire national park system, and anyone who hands you a clean total is guessing. The closest real number comes from Yellowstone National Park, which documents more than 290 named waterfalls — more than any other single US national park. That figure covers one park out of 63, so any answer to "how many waterfalls are in the national park system" you find online is really a rough stitch-together of park-by-park counts that don't share a common definition.
- No official National Park Service count exists for how many waterfalls are in the national park system as of 2026.
- Yellowstone National Park documents 290+ named waterfalls, more than any other single US national park.
- Great Smoky Mountains, Yosemite, Olympic and dozens of other parks add hundreds more falls without a unified tally.
- Height thresholds, seasonal flow, and unmapped backcountry falls all change the count depending on who's counting.
- Triptyka tracks named waterfalls park by park instead of waiting on a system-wide number that doesn't exist.
Why this matters
People ask this question because they want a checklist number, not a caveat — something to plan a trip around or cross off a bucket list. The honest answer is messier: the National Park Service manages waterfall data at the individual park level, not as one nationwide inventory, so a hiker chasing every fall in the system is chasing a moving target.
That's actually the appeal for collectors. A waterfall checklist tracker built around named, verifiable falls per park gives you something to actually check off, instead of an unverifiable grand total. Triptyka's printable trackers work the same way most serious park-baggers already think: park by park, trail by trail.
How many waterfalls are in the national park system?
Here's what's documented at the park level as of 2026 — no aggregate total exists, but these are the numbers and facts that hold up:
| Park | Documented waterfalls | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Yellowstone National Park | 290+ named falls | Highest documented count of any US national park |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park | Dozens along maintained trails | No official aggregate; NPS lists by trail, not by total |
| Yosemite National Park | Small number of famous named falls, many more unnamed | Known for the tallest drops in North America, not a raw count |
| Olympic National Park | Numerous falls across rainforest valleys | No system-wide tally published |
| Remaining national parks | Uncounted collectively | Most units with elevation change have at least one named fall |
The table stops where the data stops. Nobody has added these rows together into one system-wide figure, and that gap is the real answer to the question.
Yellowstone: 290+ waterfalls, more than any other national park
Yellowstone's count comes from dedicated field research cataloging named waterfalls across the park, and it's the number most frequently cited when people talk about US national park waterfalls generally. Yellowstone is the single best answer if you want one park with a real, documented waterfall count — 290+ beats every other unit in the system by a wide margin.
That number only covers falls that have been formally identified and named. Yellowstone's backcountry is enormous, and researchers who compiled the 290+ figure have noted that undocumented falls almost certainly exist in areas without maintained trails.
Great Smoky Mountains and Yosemite: waterfalls everywhere, no official tally
Great Smoky Mountains National Park lists waterfalls by trail in its own visitor materials rather than as a park-wide sum, which is standard practice across most of the system. Yosemite takes the opposite approach — it's famous for a handful of specific, named falls (the tallest in North America among them) rather than for sheer volume, so nobody has bothered compiling a full count there either.
Neither park publishes a number you can cite with confidence, and that's true for most of the 63 parks in the system in 2026. Olympic, Sequoia, Zion, and Rocky Mountain all have waterfalls worth tracking, and none of them have a published total either.
Why there's no single national park system waterfall count
- Definition differences — some counts only include falls over a minimum height (Yellowstone's research uses roughly 15 feet), others log every seasonal trickle.
- Unmapped backcountry falls — falls off maintained trails often go unnamed and uncatalogued for years.
- Seasonal flow — snowmelt-driven falls that run in spring and vanish by August don't always make official lists.
- No system-wide research budget — the National Park Service funds hydrology and waterfall research per park, not as one nationwide project.
- Boundary overlaps — falls near park edges sometimes sit partly on adjacent National Forest or state land, which complicates who counts them.
- Trail closures — falls behind closed or restricted trails are frequently left off public-facing inventories entirely.
How many national parks are there in the US?
There are 63 national parks in the US as of 2026, and waterfalls appear in most of them wherever there's meaningful elevation change. That's the base number behind any waterfall estimate — 63 units, each cataloging waterfalls (or not) on its own terms.
Which national park has the most waterfalls?
Yellowstone National Park has the most documented waterfalls of any US national park, with 290+ named falls recorded in dedicated field research. No other park in the system comes close to that documented total, though several — Great Smoky Mountains and Olympic among them — likely have more waterfalls than have ever been formally counted.
Are all national park waterfalls officially named?
No — a large share of waterfalls inside the national park system have never been officially named, especially in backcountry areas without maintained trails. Yellowstone's own 290+ count only includes falls researchers have formally identified and named, which means the real physical number of waterfalls inside the park is almost certainly higher.
Track waterfalls park by park
A printable checklist built for hikers chasing named falls trip by trip.
FAQ
How many waterfalls are in the national park system?
There's no official National Park Service total for the whole system in 2026. Yellowstone alone documents 290+ named waterfalls, the most of any single park, but the remaining 62 parks don't have a published combined count.
Which national park has the most waterfalls?
Yellowstone National Park has the most documented waterfalls of any US national park, with 290+ named falls recorded in dedicated field research.
How many national parks are there in the US?
There are 63 national parks in the US as of 2026. Most contain at least one named waterfall wherever the terrain has elevation change.
Does Yellowstone really have 290 waterfalls?
Yes, Yellowstone documents more than 290 named waterfalls, based on dedicated field research cataloging falls across the park. That makes it the highest documented count of any US national park.
Is there an official count of waterfalls in Yosemite?
No, Yosemite National Park doesn't publish a total waterfall count. It's known for a small number of especially tall, named falls rather than sheer volume.
Why doesn't the National Park Service count all waterfalls?
Waterfall research and cataloging happens at the individual park level, not as one system-wide project, and definitions of what counts as a waterfall vary by park.
Are unnamed waterfalls counted anywhere?
Rarely. Most published counts, including Yellowstone's 290+, only include waterfalls that have been formally identified and named, so unnamed backcountry falls are typically left out.
One last thing
The 290+ figure for Yellowstone almost certainly undercounts the park's actual waterfalls — researchers who compiled it have said as much, since it only includes formally named falls and Yellowstone's backcountry is far larger than its trail network. If you're building a bucket list around waterfalls in 2026, track named, documented falls park by park rather than waiting for a system-wide number that nobody has published and probably never will.
