Discover the Tallest Waterfall in Kentucky

There are well over 1,000 waterfalls in Kentucky, with the highest concentration of falls found in the state’s southeastern region. There are a large number of waterfalls in Whitley, McCreary, Laurel, and Pulaski counties. That region is, not surprisingly, also home to the highest waterfall in the Bluegrass State.

Yahoo Falls is the tallest waterfall in Kentucky with a height of 113 feet.

Yahoo Falls

Kentucky’s tallest waterfall is located in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area in the southwest corner of the Daniel Boone National Forest. Big South Fork is a federally protected area that covers land in both Kentucky and Tennessee.

Yahoo Falls plunges 113 feet straight down off of a rocky precipice. The volume of water is nowhere near what visitors can observe at Cumberland Falls, which is undoubtedly Kentucky’s most famous waterfall. Instead, like most of the other waterfalls in the area, Yahoo Falls is largely comprised of water runoff from rainfall. The waterfall can be reduced to a trickle in dry summer weather.

If visitors want to see water plunging over Yahoo Falls at full force, spring is the best time to check it out. If possible, time your visit a day or two after a significant rain event to see the waterfall at its highest volume.

Hiking to Yahoo Falls

However, whether the waterfall is plunging or trickling, the scenery is always amazing. Yahoo Falls can be accessed by a one-mile loop trail. The trail takes gives hikers a view of Yahoo Falls from all angles, including behind the waterfall. Hikers pass behind the waterfall under one of the largest rock shelters in the area. 

The trail is an easy hike overall, but there is a very steep set of steel stairs to navigate. Hikers who walk the loop in a clockwise direction will descend the staircase to the waterfall and then make a gradual trail climb back to the top.

The trail can also be hiked counterclockwise, though it is the more difficult direction to go. Those who hike the trail counterclockwise will make a gradual trail descent to the waterfall and then climb the steep staircase to exit.

There are a number of trail intersections, so the hike can be customized if you want to extend your trip beyond the Yahoo Falls Loop Trail. Adding the Yahoo Arches Trail is a popular addition to the hike. This out-and-back spur adds 1.6 miles to the overall hike.

For hikers that are looking for something more adventurous, the full 15.4-mile Yamacraw-Yahoo Falls Loop Trail may fit the bill.

The video below provides a great glimpse of Yahoo Falls as well as the arch formations on the Yahoo Arch Trail.

Wildlife Around Yahoo Falls

The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area encompasses 125,000 acres of the Cumberland Plateau. The terrain is rugged and wild, and animals proliferate in the area.

Visitors may encounter white-tailed deer and elk. Wild turkeys are often seen, as well. Gray foxes and bobcats are elusive, but they also inhabit the area. Black bears were reintroduced to the area in 1996 and 1997. The relocated bears came from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Today, there are over 250 bears roaming Big South Fork.

Hikers need to watch the trail carefully as they hike to Yahoo Falls or anywhere else in the region. Copperheads and timber rattlesnakes are present and sometimes lie on or close to trails, although they will likely move further away from the trails on busy days. However, no matter how many people are on the trail, hikers must always watch where they are stepping.

Tales of Yahoo Falls

There are a couple of well-known but unverified tales regarding the tallest waterfall in Kentucky.

Boone and Bigfoot

Yahoo Falls is supposedly the site where Daniel Boone shot and killed Bigfoot. The hairy creature was said to be ten feet tall. The “Bigfoot” moniker wasn’t part of the common vernacular yet. Instead, Boone called the creature a “Yahoo,” borrowing the name from the filthy, human-like creatures described in Jonathan Swift’s book Gulliver’s Travels. This is supposedly where the Yahoo Falls name originated.

This cryptid wasn’t the only strange encounter reportedly experienced by Boone. He is also said to have come face-to-face with the Ozark Howler in Missouri.

None of this is verified, of course, which has allowed the tales of Boone’s exploits to morph and grow over the years.

Massacre at Yahoo Falls

A much more serious story also has Yahoo Falls as its backdrop. On August 10, 1810, a number of Cherokee women and children were allegedly killed by soldiers. They purportedly gathered at Yahoo Falls to begin a trek to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where a school had been opened for the Cherokee people. That’s when they were ambushed and murdered.

There is no documentation of this event from the time period. The story was recounted in an unpublished work by Dan Troxell in the 1990s, but no historical source is cited. Beyond local folklore, historians have not found any evidence that the massacre actually occurred. Still, the story persists to this day.

Where is Yahoo Falls Located on a Map?

Yahoo Falls is situated in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area near Whitley City in McCreary County, Kentucky. The site is managed and administered by the National Park Service.

Here is Yahoo Falls on a map:

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/alexeys