If you visit Desoto State Park, this is one of the must-see sights! Desoto Falls is rich in history and legends. It's a scenic beauty located within Desoto State Park and is easily accessible from Lookout Mountain Parkway.

Desoto Falls is the tallest and most popular waterfall in Alabama and was named after a Spanish explorer, Hernando De Soto. The 104-foot waterfall has formed its own small canyon, although it is believed that parts of the falls are manmade. There are also legends about the caves that are found around the falls. It has been said that a piece of Hernando De Soto's armor from his 1500's expedition was found near the falls. For thousands of years, De Soto Falls has been a landmark, especially visited by Native Americans long before the first European explorers arrived. The waterfall was special to the Cherokee Indians who once lived in this area of Alabama

If legends are true, De Soto was here before Columbus came to America. Local folklore has it that a few of the small caves below the waterfall were part of a fort built by Welsh explorers, but research findings say that it was probably a structure built by American Indians in the Woodland era.

The upper falls can be seen by all visitors from the railed overlook near the parking lot. To see the lower falls, you need to walk down cement steps which could be difficult for young children and the elderly.

The amount of water rushing from the falls depends on how much rainfall there has been. In the winter and early spring, the water levels are high, while water levels are very low during the summer and early fall.