A waterfall is a jharana in Nepali, and unlike almost everything else in this country, a jharana is best in the monsoon. The trekking calendar sends visitors to Nepal in October and April; the falls run hardest between Asar and Asoj, roughly late June to mid-October, and by spring many are a thin ribbon on wet rock. If you are here in the rain, this is the page that pays off.
The trade-off is access. Most of these sit at the end of an unsurfaced spur and a walk in, and the monsoon that fills them is also what turns the last few kilometres to mud. Each page below gives the drive, the walk, and the honest season — including the ones where the water is worth it and the road is not.
Davis Falls (Patale Chhango)
A dramatic waterfall in Pokhara where the Pardi Khola plunges into a deep underground tunnel, disappearing into a sinkhole — one of the city's most visited natural attractions.
Kaski
Lauke Jharana (Chhahare Jharana)
A tall spring-fed cascade above Simle village on the Nuwakot side of the Kakani ridge — an hour and a half from Kathmandu, then a two-hour walk in, and busiest in the monsoon when everywhere else in Nepal is being avoided.
Free entry
Nuwakot
Fung Fung Jharana
A hundred-metre cascade below Ranipauwa in Kakani-4, Nuwakot — 40 km from Kathmandu, an hour's walk down from the road, and at full force from Asar through Asoj.
Free entry
Nuwakot
More of Nepal's water and hill country
Several of these falls sit below ridge walks within a day of Kathmandu. Follow the trails above them — or the lakes and kundas on the other side of the season.