Rainbow Falls is a

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 several wa ...

in Western

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 ...

, located near Brevard. The falls is located on the

Horsepasture River The Horsepasture River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 26, 2011 National Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina. The ...

. It is on

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 ...

land just outside

Gorges State Park Gorges State Park is a North Carolina state park in Transylvania County, North Carolina in the United States and along with other conservation lands is part of a 100,000+ acre conservation corridor stretching some 80 miles along the NC/SC state ...

History

A proposal to route the flow of the river around the falls in the mid 1980s for a hydroelectric power plant was thwarted by public opposition. On October 27, 1986, the

was designated a national

Wild and Scenic River The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...

, protecting the falls from future development.

Geology

The rock face over which the river flows is not vertical, but the large volume of water during normal river flows cause it to leap many feet out from the rock and a deep plunge pool lies at the bottom of the falls. It creates large amounts of wind and mist that race up the hillside opposite the falls. If the sun is in the right position, a

rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

is easily observed here, giving the falls its name.

Nearby Falls

*Little Falls - located on private property upstream from Drift Falls *Narrows Falls - located in a gated community upstream from Drift Falls *Rock House Falls - 55-ft falls located on private property on Burlingame Creek, a tributary of the Horsepasture River * Turtleback Falls * Drift Falls * Stairway Falls * Sidepocket Falls * Windy Falls

External links

Rainbow falls on NCWaterfalls.com
*{{cite book, url=http://www.ncparks.gov/About/plans/gmp/gorg/2005/Operations.pdf, title=Gorges State Park General Management Plan, chapter=VIII. Operations Issues, publisher=N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation, date=January 2005, format=PDF Protected areas of Transylvania County, North Carolina Waterfalls of North Carolina Nantahala National Forest Waterfalls of Transylvania County, North Carolina