Ecuador 
In numbers.
199m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Apr–Jul
Best months
1,410m
Elevation
The water at Agoyán, month by month
It roars from December to July.
The fullest months: from December to July.
- 226 m³/sJan
- 225 m³/sFeb
- 246 m³/sMar
- 288 m³/sApr
- 306 m³/sMay
- 306 m³/sJun
- 256 m³/sJul
- 202 m³/sAug
- 149 m³/sSep
- 173 m³/sOct
- 205 m³/sNov
- 235 m³/sDec
From about 149 m³/s in the lowest month to 306 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from April to July.
Estimate: the timing comes from rain, snowmelt and evaporation (NASA POWER, 1991–2020); the amounts from the river model of HydroATLAS (WaterGAP, 1971–2000). Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Getting there.
- Bañosnearest town · 13 km in a straight line
- Parking 1,320 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Cotopaxi International Airport (LTX)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 65 km in a straight lineCar hire at UIO airport (Quito)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From April to Julybest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 55 m in 3.6 km. Here the river runs about 128 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- 4viewpointspiedra, Pailon del Diablo Mirador and 2 more
- —waymarked walking routes
- 2car parks
- —swimming spots
- —picnic sites
- 3toilets
- —information boards and visitor centres
- 3bus stops within 1 km
- 13other named waterfalls within 4 kmEl Pailón del Diablo, Cascada Encanto del Rocío de Machay, Cascada de San Pedro and 10 more
- —caves
- 1campsitesHosteria Monte Selva
- 4hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmPequeño Paraiso, Athene Moon, Hotel Spa Miramelindo and 1 more
- 13restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Baños13 km in a straight line
- El Triunfo16 km in a straight line
- Mera23 km in a straight line
- Cotaló23 km in a straight line
- Guambaló25 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 |
| Night °C | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 16 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 162 | 167 | 194 | 215 | 200 | 193 | 150 | 127 | 115 | 173 | 174 | 172 |
| Wet days | 25 | 23 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 24 |
| Sun h/day | 3.4 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.5 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (1,410 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 96% | 79% | 41% | 140% | 179% | 132% | 101% | 30% | 82% | 39% | 33% | 122% |
| 2021 | 160% | 154% | 139% | 163% | 139% | 184% | 48% | 46% | 41% | 118% | 128% | 192% |
| 2022 | 88% | 109% | 177% | 123% | 141% | 166% | 201% | 126% | 154% | 196% | 133% | 112% |
| 2023 | 150% | 92% | 208% | 174% | 178% | 134% | 200% | 373% | 105% | 118% | 167% | 181% |
| 2024 | 76% | 156% | 118% | 150% | 152% | 106% | 92% | 129% | 64% | 237% | 98% | 132% |
| 2025 | 162% | 161% | 200% | 120% | 176% | 214% | 186% | 151% | 155% | 223% | 171% | 115% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Agoyán
Ecuador
- —Height
- 199 m³/sAverage flow
- Apr–JulBest months
Cascada el Pailón del Diablo(dueño el walter)
Ecuador
- 80 mHeight
- 202 m³/sAverage flow
- Apr–JulBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q4693664) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| River flow and catchment | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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