Did you know that back in 1954, a big chunk of what had been the viewing area for Niagara Falls fell off? Neither did I!
The legend is that a 9-year-old boy was walking around at Prospect Point when he noticed an inch-wide crack. It seems to run for a long while, and so the boy told his dad, who told a ranger, who then cleared the whole area out, and the next day, 185,000 tons of rock collapsed into the gorge.
This happened on the exact day my dad was born, which he pointed out as we looked over the falls last month. Niagara Falls is one of the rare, amazing things that you can just stare at for as long as you want, and it never seems to get old. The whole family did the Maid of the Mist and the Cave of the Winds, and we got the added bonus of being there during what were told was seagull breeding season. Imagine the smell of thousands of gulls, all screeching and allegedly horny, with random eggs scattered about. Nature! It’s somethin’!
Anyhow, because this is a North Carolina-focused newsletter, you may be wondering whether any waterfalls in this state come close to the majesty, grandeur, and sheer impressiveness of Niagara Falls.
No.
But!
There are three waterfalls that I can recommend. Note: These are not the three best waterfalls in the state. Your opinion may vary. Instead, these are three that I just found particularly interesting after having visited them in person. I would like to point out that South Mountains State Park has a really nice waterfall, and and that Highway 19 between Highlands and Franklin is a road that’s within striking distance of several waterfalls, including Dry Falls, which got its name because you can walk behind it and stay dry.
Technically, the Upper Whitewater Falls in Jackson County is the tallest waterfall east of the Rockies, clocking in at around 411 feet of vertical drop. That’s not a straight drop though. There are a lot of cascades. Still! It’s cool, and you should go take a short hike to see it. If you want a big list of waterfalls, it’s here, and Looking Glass Falls is the one that seems to float to the top of a lot of lists. Of course, you can go ahead and tell me how wrong I am by leaving a comment with your obvioiusly superior waterfall! Please do! I need some new suggestions myself.
3. Soco Falls
I’m adding this one because I randomly stopped here during a drive to Cherokee because I saw a lot of people pulled off on the side of the road. I went into lemming mode and parked behind them, then just followed the trail to see what was going on. It was only later that I learned that this was Soco Falls. I also snapped an iPhone picture of the waterfall at a perfect time, when the sun was directly behind the creek.
I’m not trying to do a humblebrag here. I literally had no idea what was going on until after I posed the picture later on, and people were like “Hey! Nice picture! Soco Falls is awesome!” Point is, if you’re on Highway 19 between Maggie Valley and Cherokee, stop off and see this one.
2. Carter Falls
I went out to Elkin six years ago to do a story about how much they love to build trails out there, and the two main trail builders took me out on footpath that wasn’t technically open yet. We went for a half-mile walk down to Carter Falls. The creek was once the site of a small hydroelectric power plant that provided electricity to Elkin. But the plant closed, and Duke Power just held on to the property for years. Then, in the mid-1980s, a local attorney named Dan Park bought the land and kept it mostly private. In 2017, Park decided to sell it to the state, so a public trail could be run to the falls, which had been hidden in the woods for decades and off limits to nearly everybody.
Dan Park died last year. I met him in 2017, and here are three paragraphs that described him:
In his wood-paneled office in downtown Elkin, Park reiterates that his last name is not Parks, with an “s.” He’s gone out of his way to make sure that people don’t confuse it: He named his sons Lark, Mark, and Clark. His tropical fish is named Shark. He used to have a dog named Bark.
He’s now 85, but he’s still wily. Bill Blackley, who seems to high-five every person he sees, tries to butter him up, saying that the Elkin Municipal Park and its series of trails — which double as MST segments — wouldn’t have been possible without him.
“Bull—t,” Park snaps, and everybody laughs.
Thanks to Park’s gift and the hard work of people around Elkin, the trail to the falls is now officially open. I’m planning on taking a trip back up there sometime this summer, but if you want to go, here’s how you get there.
1. Fall Creek Falls
This one’s at the relatively new Mayo River State Park, and it’s the one we go to the most because it’s the closest one to our house near Greensboro. It’s a great swimming spot too, and it’s fairly quiet, because I don’t think a lot of people know about it (yet!). It’s like our own private waterfall!
The trail from the parking lot to the actual falls is less than a quarter mile long, but you can keep going all the way out to the Mayo River, then turn right and walk into Virginia. The border itself is marked with a tree that has three spray-painted stripes on it and boundary markers nailed into the side. I’m really fond of turning my dad-ness up to 11 and telling my kids YOU JUST WENT INTO A DIFFERENT STATE OMG. Then we have lunch on a rock and go back.
Here’s how you get there. Go. Have fun. Don’t tell anybody.