Arizona's Best Waterfall

Did you know Arizona has some spectacular waterfalls? One such waterfall is the somewhat unknown and hidden Chocolate Falls.

You can find these falls, also known as Grand Falls or Adah'iilíní, about 30 miles northeast as the crow flies from Flagstaff on the Navajo Reservation. It's a little over a 40 mile drive. 

The falls are indeed grand, measuring even taller than Niagara Falls! Chocolate Falls measure in around 185 feet high; Niagara Falls are around 167 feet.

To provide some scale, look to the upper right of the below picture. You can see some vehicles and a shade structure.

This picture is also good for scale. See Chris and my dad walking at the bottom of the falls (mid-right of picture)?! I stayed up top with the kids, but it is a fairly easy hike to the bottom of the falls. Expect some mud and muck if you venture down.

I planned this excursion during a stay in Flagstaff over Spring Break 2020. The water is not always flowing, so I kept my eye on flow rates. You want to watch the cubic feet per second (CFS); if it's above 400 or 500 CFS, then it'd be a good time to go. It at least needs to be above 200 CFS. When we went the falls were measuring around 3400 CFS, which meant they were really flowing! We visited the falls as the snow melt hit and ended up seeing spectacular water flow. The best time to visit would be spring, or following heavy rainfall, such as after monsoon storms. The falls do not always flow.

 

I think one thing that made the falls so amazing was they seemingly pop up out of nowhere. We drove about 45 minutes in flat, desert landscape, which became a lonely dirt road, until we suddenly pulled up to the falls. The drive was easy and, despite the road not being paved all the way, a 4 wheel drive is not necessary. However, the area is pretty remote so don't plan on a quick snack or drink nearby.

Unfortunately, at the time of this publishing, the falls are closed to the public due to misuse. Recent floods and high water flow led to an influx of visitors. Sadly, those visitors didn't respect the area which led to trash and the deterioration of natural and residential sites. You can read more about it here. Keep an eye on when they reopen here. While my main goal is to share locations you can also enjoy, this a good reminder about the need to protect and respect every inch of this beautiful earth. Hopefully the falls will reopen to the public in the future.

This is certainly the best Arizona waterfall I have seen. Though Havasupai Falls is still on my to do list.