Indonesia Waterfall

Sipisopiso Waterfall

A 120 m drop.

When to go

Nugraha · CC BY-SA 4.0

In numbers.

120m

Height

OpenStreetMap

1.5m³/s

Average flow

estimate

Sep–Dec

Best months

1.7MW

Water power

estimate

The water at Sipisopiso Waterfall, month by month

It roars from September to December.

The fullest months: from September to December.

1.4 m³/sJan
1.0 m³/sFeb
1.0 m³/sMar
1.0 m³/sApr
1.2 m³/sMay
1.0 m³/sJun
1.1 m³/sJul
1.3 m³/sAug
1.7 m³/sSep
2.1 m³/sOct
2.0 m³/sNov
1.9 m³/sDec

high water best months to go

From about 0.97 m³/s in the lowest month to 2.1 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from September to December.

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.

Waterfall in Sumatra, Indonesia

Sipisopiso Waterfall is a waterfall in Indonesia. The water falls 120 m.

Getting there.

Tonggingnearest town · 2.0 km in a straight line
Kualanamu International Airport (KNO)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 89 km in a straight lineCar hire at CGK airport (Jakarta)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
From September to Decemberbest months to go (estimate)

Plan your visit

Stay, explore and get there

Car hire at CGK airport (Jakarta)Discover CarsSee

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.

How big is it?

How big it really is.

Height of the drop as mapped in OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors). Buildings and the person are drawn at the same scale.

1.7 MW

About 1.5 m³/s falling 120 m: the power of the water as it drops.

enough to power about 430 homes, if it were all turned into electricity

Power of falling water = density × gravity × flow × height. Average flow and height as shown above; an estimate.

Seen from the sky.

8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.

Sipisopiso Waterfall seen from above (Sentinel-2)

N 2 km

ViewpointsOther fallsCampsites

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

The Sihumbang through the falls

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.

The valley below the falls

Around the falls the river drops 339 m in 2.3 km. Here the river runs about 48 m below the lower rim of its valley.

What is around.

4viewpointsSipisopiso Waterfall Viewpoint, Lake Toba Viewpoint, An amazing a view on Toba lake. Good for camping. and 1 more
—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
3campsitesSapo Juma, Binahal Indah Resort
12hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmRoman Sinasi, Simalem Resort, Penginapan TR-INN and 9 more
3restaurants 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

Tongging2.0 km in a straight line
Paropo5.6 km in a straight line
Saribudolok10 km in a straight line
Kabanjahe21 km in a straight line
Tigarunggu23 km in a straight line
Sumbul24 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	21	22	22	22	22	22	21	22	21	21	21	21
Night °C	15	15	16	16	16	16	15	15	15	15	16	15
Rain & snow (mm)	182	134	188	178	222	155	197	235	295	353	293	277
Wet days	21	17	21	23	24	20	21	24	25	28	28	26
Sun h/day	5.1	5.7	5.9	5.6	5.7	6.4	5.8	5.5	4.8	4.4	4.4	4.4

Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (1,353 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.

Photos

Through visitors' eyes.

AIR TERJUN SIPISO-PISO (SUMUT) — NOVA BARUS · CC BY-SA 4.0

Air Terjun Sipiso-Piso, Tongging, Karo, Sumatra Utara — Meylani Prisilia · CC0

Waterfall (Unsplash) — Hanny Naibaho hannynaibaho · CC0

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	107%	179%	68%	126%	92%	129%	102%	45%	89%	60%	93%	97%
2021	132%	44%	107%	93%	38%	120%	70%	146%	99%	82%	100%	145%
2022	64%	157%	91%	54%	75%	207%	71%	94%	84%	93%	133%	144%
2023	103%	52%	117%	57%	96%	59%	86%	97%	64%	71%	121%	131%
2024	115%	96%	62%	85%	81%	203%	40%	145%	90%	74%	100%	55%
2025	129%	68%	103%	111%	69%	85%	39%	105%	73%	103%	149%	89%

130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual

About these numbers

Names, height, width, river	Wikidata (Q4420683) · CC0
Height of the drop	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
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