The site of the falls was occupied in pre-modern times by a variety of indigenous peoples, and more recently has passed through multiple private owners until eventually being donated, along with surrounding land to Kentucky in 1933.

It is believed that Cumberland Falls originated at the Pottsville Escarpment, near modern-day Burnside, Kentucky, and retreated to its current location approximately 45 miles (72 km) upstream.

[4]: 22 [a] The first recorded landowners of the falls were Matthew Walton and Adam Shepard in 1800, both engineers who served under George Washington during the American Revolution.

[5]: 314 The first landowners to settle permanently at Cumberland Falls were Lewis Renfro, a Baptist minister, and his wife Mary, who built a cabin there in 1850, which would later be used as a hospital during the American Civil War.

[b][c] The falls and 400 acres of surrounding land were purchased in 1875 by Socrates Owens, who there built the Cumberland Hotel, which was taken over by his wife Nannie and his son Edward following his death.

[5]: 315 In the late 1920s, there were plans to build a hydroelectric power station upstream, and divert the river through a mountain tunnel to a point below the falls.

[3][6]: 103–5  On March 10, 1930, the Kentucky House and Senate overrode the veto of Governor Flem D. Sampson, and voted to accept the land from the du Pont family.

[8]: 60 In 2016, two men, Dane Jackson and Nicholas Troutman, were charged with misdemeanor trespassing after intentionally going over Cumberland Falls in kayaks.

Conversely, if conditions include substantial downstream wind, this may increase the level of mist and make a moonbow more likely to be visible.