Douglas Falls are a 60-foot

waterfall A waterfall is a 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 severa ...

located in

Buncombe County, North Carolina Buncombe County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is classified within Western North Carolina. The 2020 census reported the population was 269,452. Its county seat is Asheville. Buncombe County is part of the Asheville ...

, 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 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 ...

. The stream flows off the slope of Craggy Pinnacle, starting just below 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 Shenan ...

. It is surrounded by a forest of very large

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 ...

trees, which are dead following attack by the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid. Visitors should be very careful when visiting this falls, as the dead Hemlocks will start to decay and fall within the next few years.

Natural history

The falls are located on a tributary of Waterfall Creek, which eventually flows into Carter Creek.

History

Douglas Falls was supposedly named for

William O. Douglas William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898January 19, 1980) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who was known for his strong progressive and civil libertarian views, and is often ci ...

, a Supreme Court Justice and author of ''Of Men and Mountains: The Classic Memoir of Wilderness Adventure''.Kevin Adams, ''North Carolina Waterfalls'', p. 150

Visiting the falls

The trail to the falls is located at the far end of a parking lot 4.7 miles from Walker Falls on F.R. 74. Visitors may follow a 0.55 mile path to the base of the falls. The trail continues up the mountain and becomes difficult after reaching the falls, eventually connecting with the Mountains to Sea Trail just below Craggy Pinnacle. From there, hikers can go in either direction to reach the Parkway; going right takes leads to the Craggy Gardens Visitor Center. Many hikers hike down to Douglas Falls from there.

Nearby falls

* Cascades Waterfall - 1.4 miles further down the trail from Douglas Falls, the trail crosses Waterfall Creek at Cascades Waterfall, a steep sliding waterfall above and below the trail. Visitors are encouraged to be extremely careful, since the crossing is extremely dangerous. It is generally regarded as not worth the hike just to see the other falls, but the other scenery along the trail and a connection to the Blue Ridge Parkway makes it see some use. Very large trees grow along this section of trail. * Walker Falls * Glassmine Falls * Mitchell Falls * Setrock Creek Falls * Roaring Fork Falls * Whiteoak Creek Falls

References

External links