On May 30th, 2025, Outside reported, “over Memorial Day weekend, search-and-rescue groups in three different states responded to reports of hikers plummeting over waterfalls. The incidents—in California, Virginia, and Utah, respectively—resulted in three serious injuries and one death.”
Waterfalls may look idyllic, but they’re sneaky. They lure people in with beauty and misty rainbows…and then remind them, rather abruptly, that gravity always wins. Most accidents around waterfalls fall into two camps. First, you have the folks who don’t realize just how slick the rock near the lip can be. One moment they’re strolling along, the next they’re doing their best impression of a cartoon character skating off a cliff. The second group is made up of swimmers who get a little too cozy near the outflow pool above a waterfall. The current reaches out, grabs them, and suddenly they’re in a very bad place.
A long-term study backs this up: over 13 years and 27 waterfalls, most victims were young men—83% male, more than half between 19 and 29—and two-thirds of all accidents were fatal. Nearly one in five of those fatalities came from drowning.
From a risk management perspective, the pattern is crystal clear. One group genuinely believes nothing bad will ever happen to them—classic “invincible hero energy.” The other group edges too close to the danger zone for the perfect photo, chasing likes that won’t matter much if things go wrong. In both cases, the hazards are real, the consequences severe, and the solution simple: respect the water, respect the edge, and resist the siren call of the selfie.
Nothing is worth falling over a waterfall for…