Iran 
In numbers.
1.9m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Feb–Apr
Dec
Best months
1,119m
Elevation
The water at Shalmash Falls, month by month
It roars from March to April.
The fullest months: from March to April. The thinnest: from June to October.
- 3.1 m³/sJan
- 4.8 m³/sFeb
- 7.2 m³/sMar
- 6.4 m³/sApr
- 3.1 m³/sMay
- 1.0 m³/sJun
- 0.3 m³/sJul
- 0.2 m³/sAug
- 0.2 m³/sSep
- 0.8 m³/sOct
- 3.0 m³/sNov
- 3.3 m³/sDec
From about 0.16 m³/s in the lowest month to 7.2 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from February to April and 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.
Cluster of three waterfalls in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
Shalmash Falls is a waterfall in Iran.
Getting there.
- Sardashtnearest town · 6.5 km in a straight line
- Jalal Talabani International Airport (ISU)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 62 km in a straight line
- From February to April and Decemberbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
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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 250 m in 3.6 km. Here the river runs about 122 m below the lower rim of its valley.
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
- —campsites
- —hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 km
- —restaurants 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
- Sardasht6.5 km in a straight line
- Hayraw19 km in a straight line
- Mawet23 km in a straight line
- Halshaw23 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 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 20 | 27 | 35 | 39 | 38 | 33 | 25 | 15 | 9 |
| Night °C | -2 | -1 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 18 | 22 | 22 | 18 | 12 | 4 | 0 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 43 | 49 | 56 | 48 | 24 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 25 | 49 | 46 |
| Wet days | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 7 |
| Sun h/day | 5.2 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 7.8 | 10.4 | 13.6 | 13.1 | 12.3 | 11.0 | 7.9 | 5.6 | 4.6 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 15 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (1,119 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 | 104% | 163% | 136% | 98% | 51% | 28% | — | — | — | 1% | 207% | 36% |
| 2021 | 73% | 103% | 46% | 24% | 53% | 0% | — | — | — | 83% | 70% | 101% |
| 2022 | 168% | 99% | 102% | 46% | 55% | 28% | — | — | — | 57% | 142% | 62% |
| 2023 | 143% | 75% | 268% | 205% | 176% | 50% | — | — | — | 24% | 98% | 58% |
| 2024 | 154% | 149% | 111% | 94% | 293% | 100% | — | — | — | 31% | 128% | 75% |
| 2025 | 19% | 77% | 64% | 121% | 139% | 6% | — | — | — | 1% | 52% | 285% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Shalmash Falls
Iran
- —Height
- 1.9 m³/sAverage flow
- Feb–Apr, DecBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q7487297) · 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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