Sutherland Falls, Waterfall in Fiordland National Park, New Zealand

Sutherland Falls drops 580 metres from Lake Quill in three cascades: the upper is 229 metres, the middle 248 metres and the lower 103 metres. The water falls over 480 metres of horizontal distance, a mean grade of about 56 degrees. In the photograph a narrow white column drops down a dark rock face, bending slightly left near the middle before a frothier lower section.

Scottish settler Donald Sutherland, who had lived by Milford Sound since December 1877, came upon the falls on 10 November 1880. He put their height at over 1,000 m; later surveys corrected this to 580 m. Lake Quill, the source above the falls, was named for the first European to climb the cliff face and find it, in 1890.

The falls appear in the background of the eagle scene in Peter Jackson's film The Hobbit. The name honours Donald Sutherland, the Scottish settler who came upon them on 10 November 1880.

The waterfall can be reached by a 90-minute walk from Quintin Public Shelter along the Milford Track. The route requires standard walking gear and is best done in good weather.

The falls drop over three saddles into a natural rock basin only a few metres deep, and the spray thrown up reaches almost 100 m at the base. Walkers on the Milford Track can go behind the falling water. From the lowest step the water drops nearly 400 m.