Cullasaja Falls () , from the North Carolina Collection's website at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
. Retrieved 2013-02-08. is a
waterfall
A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge
of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...
in south
western North Carolina
Western North Carolina (often abbreviated as WNC) is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains; it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It contains the highest mountains in the Eastern United S ...
. The waterfall is located on the
Cullasaja River
The Cullasaja River () , from the North Carolina Collection's website at the
Nantahala National Forest
The Nantahala National Forest () is the largest of the four national forests in North Carolina, lying in the mountains and valleys of western North Carolina. The Nantahala is the second wettest region in the Continental US, after the Pacific Nor ...
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
The falls is the last major waterfall on the Cullasaja River. The falls is a long cascade over the course of 0.2 miles (.3 km).
The height of the falls is given as 200 ft (61 m) in Kevin Adams' book, '' North Carolina Waterfalls'' and 250 ft (77.1 m) by NCWaterfalls.com.NCWaterfalls.com /ref>
Visiting the falls
It is easy to catch a glimpse of the falls while driving by; however, getting a better view of the falls is not easy. The falls are located beside of a series of blind curves on U.S. 64, with sheer rock
cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. ...
s above and below the road. There is only one small
pull-off
A pull-off is a stringed instrument playing and articulation technique performed by plucking or "pulling" the finger that is grasping the sounding part of a string off the fingerboard of either a fretted or unfretted instrument. This intermediate ...
near the falls, but walking on the road puts visitors in danger of being hit by a passing vehicle.
Activities
Though difficult to reach, some use the falls as a place for leisure activities such as
swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
(in the pool below) or
rappelling
Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling, the person descending controls their own movement down a static or fixed rope, in cont ...
Dry Falls
Dry Falls is a scalloped precipice with four major alcoves, in central Washington scablands. This cataract complex is on the opposite side of the Upper Grand Coulee from the Columbia River, and at the head of the Lower Grand Coulee, northe ...
List of waterfalls
This list of notable waterfalls of the world is sorted by continent, then country, then province, state or territory. A waterfall is included if it is at least tall and has an existing Wikipedia article, or it is considered historically sig ...
*
List of waterfalls in North Carolina
The waterfalls of North Carolina, U.S., are a prominent feature of the geography of the Piedmont and mountain regions of the state, as well as a major focus of tourism and outdoor recreation. Many of these falls are located in state parks, nation ...