North CarolinaNC Waterfalls

It’s only 12 feet high and in a little canyon full of old tires, chunks of concrete, and a never-ending fresh supply of beer cans. I suspect most people wouldn’t give it a second glance, if they would even give it a first one. But for some reason that I can’t fully explain, I really like this waterfall.

First, it’s located where no waterfall has any business being. Sure, it’s on the Fall Line, where the harder rocks of the Piedmont give way to the softer sedimentary rocks of the Coastal Plain. But typically, when one thinks of Fall Line waterfalls, they are on the larger streams like Cape Fear River. Fall Line waterfalls on those rivers are more like rapids and rarely have vertical drops of any height. In fact, the tiny stream here flows into Cape Fear River only a few yards downstream from the falls and on the Cape Fear at that point is Smileys Falls, which falls—get ready—a whopping 20 or so feet in a couple miles!

Another thing I like about it is the little canyon it’s in. That’s something else you don’t find often in this region, but here it is, a 35-foot-deep gully on an itty-bitty creek.

Finally, the waterfall is rather pretty if you can view it in isolation and ignore the trash and weeds around it. And the creek below flows into a scenic section of Cape Fear River, adding to the appeal.