
In numbers.
0.42m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Jul
Sep–Oct
Best months
1,472m
Elevation
The water at El Salto, month by month
It roars in September.
The fullest months: September. The thinnest: from December to May.
- 0.1 m³/sJan
- 0.0 m³/sFeb
- 0.1 m³/sMar
- 0.2 m³/sApr
- 0.3 m³/sMay
- 0.4 m³/sJun
- 0.7 m³/sJul
- 0.6 m³/sAug
- 2.0 m³/sSep
- 1.3 m³/sOct
- 0.6 m³/sNov
- 0.1 m³/sDec
From about 0.04 m³/s in the lowest month to 2.0 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: July and from September to October.
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.
Rock climbing area in Nuevo León, Mexico
El Salto is a waterfall in Mexico. It lies within Parque Nacional Cumbres de Monterrey.
Getting there.
- Santiagonearest town · 9.5 km in a straight line
- Monterrey International Airport (MTY)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 45 km in a straight lineCar hire at MTY airport (Monterrey)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- July and from September to Octoberbest 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.
What is around.
- —viewpoints
- —waymarked walking routes
- —car parks
- —swimming spots
- —picnic sites
- —toilets
- —information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- —other named waterfalls within 4 km
- —caves
- 2campsitesJardín de piedra, Vitro Parque El Manzano Don Sotero
- 8hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmHotel y Cabaña de Santiago, La Aldea Cabañas y área de camping, Rincón de San Genaro and 5 more
- 2restaurants 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
- Santiago9.5 km in a straight line
- Bosques de San Pedro24 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 | 16 | 19 | 23 | 27 | 29 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 25 | 23 | 19 | 17 |
| Night °C | 2 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 6 | 3 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 20 | 19 | 29 | 41 | 64 | 68 | 96 | 63 | 197 | 64 | 26 | 20 |
| Wet days | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 3 |
| Sun h/day | 5.6 | 6.3 | 7.0 | 7.4 | 7.6 | 9.8 | 9.7 | 9.8 | 7.5 | 7.4 | 6.3 | 5.6 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (1,472 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
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 | 145% | 23% | 65% | 121% | 135% | 143% | 209% | 31% | 59% | 4% | 2% | 25% |
| 2021 | 55% | 24% | 20% | 77% | 114% | 185% | 106% | 101% | 22% | 141% | 181% | 85% |
| 2022 | 103% | 53% | 0% | 77% | 39% | 71% | 6% | 150% | 104% | 62% | 125% | 23% |
| 2023 | 9% | 6% | 103% | 237% | 199% | 25% | 33% | 40% | 24% | 172% | 470% | 88% |
| 2024 | 47% | 187% | 83% | 66% | 32% | 440% | 113% | 51% | 69% | 86% | 19% | 152% |
| 2025 | 60% | 30% | 65% | 7% | 134% | 85% | 56% | 77% | 78% | 86% | 92% | 50% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q16938801) · 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.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves or dark skies?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

