{{Infobox waterfall , photo = Roaring Fork Falls.jpg , photo_caption = , name = Roaring Fork Falls , location =

Pisgah National Forest Pisgah National Forest is a National Forest in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. It is administered by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. The Pisgah National Forest is complet ...

Yancey County Yancey County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,470. Its county seat is Burnsville. This land was inhabited by the Cherokee prior to European settlement, as was much of the S ...

, in the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, type = Cascade, Slide , height = {{Convert, 45, ft, m, 0{{nowrap, - disputedKevin Adams, ''North Carolina Waterfalls'', p. 143 , drop = , numberofdrops = , flow = , coords = {{coord, 35.76681, -82.19273 Roaring Fork Falls, also called Roaring Creek Falls, is a waterfall in the Pisgah National Forest, in North Carolina.

Geology

The falls is located on Roaring Fork, a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

South Toe River The South Toe River is a river in Yancey County in Western North Carolina. The name Toe is taken from its original name Estatoe, pronounced 'S - ta - toe', a native American name associated with the Estatoe trade route leading down from the NC m ...

, which itself is a tributary of the

French Broad River The French Broad River is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It flows from near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville forms ...

. The creek is located in a

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

that's filled with

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

and

eastern hemlock ''Tsuga canadensis'', also known as eastern hemlock, eastern hemlock-spruce, or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as ''pruche du Canada'', is a coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It is the state tree of ...

. The creek is abundant with freshwater

snails A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastrop ...

Height

There are some disputes as to the height of the falls. Kevin Adams' book, North Carolina Waterfalls, lists the height as "about 45 ft (17 m) high".
North Carolina Waterfalls
lists the falls as being 100 feet (30.9 m) "long".

Visiting the Falls

From the intersection of NC 80 and the

Blue Ridge Parkway The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is America's longest linear park, runs for through 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties, linking Shenand ...

, go 2.2 miles north on NC 80 and turn left on South Toe River Road. Cross the bridge and turn left. Follow the road 0.2 miles to the gate and parking area. From here, follow the trail (passing concrete bunkers formerly used to store

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

) for 0.61 mi. (1.34 km) to a side trail that will lead to the falls in 300 ft (93 m).

Nearby Falls

* Setrock Creek Falls *

Mitchell Falls Mitchell Falls is a waterfall located in Yancey County, North Carolina on the slope of Mount Mitchell, the highest mountain in the Appalachian Mountain chain and highest point in the eastern United States. The falls, the mountain and its relate ...

Douglas Falls Douglas Falls are a 60-foot waterfall located in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is on a tributary of Waterfall Creek which flows into the Ivy River, and it is within the Big Ivy section of the Pisgah National Forest. The stream ...

* Walker Falls *

Whiteoak Creek Falls {{Infobox waterfall , photo = Whiteoak_creek_falls_yancey_county_nc.jpg , photo_caption = , name = Whiteoak Creek Falls , location = Pisgah National Forest, Yancey County, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina , type = Cascade, Slide , ...

Crabtree Falls Crabtree Falls is one of the tallest sets of waterfalls in the United States east of the Mississippi River. It is located in the George Washington National Forest in Nelson County, Virginia, off of Virginia State Route 56. The name of the falls ...

References

Roaring Fork Falls on NCWaterfalls.comVideo overview of Roaring Fork Falls
Waterfalls of North Carolina Protected areas of Yancey County, North Carolina Pisgah National Forest Waterfalls of Yancey County, North Carolina