Best Horsetail and Fan Waterfalls
Horsetail and fan waterfalls keep the water against the rock as it falls, unlike a plunge. The horsetail is narrow and steep; the fan spreads wide. Both produce different photographs and different sounds — softer than a plunge. All ten on the map.
1. Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite
189 metres of horsetail off a hanging valley in Yosemite — softer in flow than the main Yosemite Falls but visible from the road.
2. Tvindefossen, Norway
152-metre fan spreading 60 metres wide at the base — Norway's best fan-form fall. Roadside on the E16 near Voss.
3. Seljalandsfoss, Iceland
65 metres of single-thread horsetail on Iceland's south coast — the only Icelandic fall you can walk all the way behind.
4. Multnomah Falls, Oregon
189 metres in two tiers — Oregon's tallest, with a stone bridge between the upper and lower falls (Benson Bridge, 1914).
5. Manawaiopuna Falls, Kauai
120-metre horsetail on Kauai, featured in Jurassic Park (1993). Helicopter-only access.
6. Horsetail Fall, Yosemite
470 metres on El Capitan, flowing only in February. The setting sun briefly turns the water red — the famous 'firefall' phenomenon.
7. Acquafraggia, Italy
170-metre twin fan in Val Bregaglia — drawn by Leonardo da Vinci in Codex Atlanticus 573.
8. Sutherland Falls, NZ
580-metre three-step horsetail from Lake Quill — the Milford Track centrepiece.
9. Bow Falls, Banff
9 metres but very broad on the Bow River below Banff townsite — a fan rather than a plunge, with a wide impact zone.
10. Wallaman Falls, Australia
268 metres in Queensland, longest single-drop horsetail in Australia. Viewpoint at top; steep walking trail to base.
Keep exploring
All of these are pinned on our interactive map.