Great Smoky Mountains
A Region of Water...
I love waterfalls. I love mountains. For me there is no place better than the Southern Appalachians. The high peaks and ridges of this region recieve some of the highest annual rainfall totals in the continental U.S. Areas in the southern mountains of North Carolina recieve upwards of 100-inches per year! All this water has to go somewhere. In numerous creeks and streams it cascades its way down the mountainsides. In the Southern Appalachains you are seldom more than a dozen miles from a waterfall of some sort.One of my growing hobbies is waterfall photography. I am always torn between using a day off to climb a mountian or visiting a waterfall. I enjoy waterfalls because of their simple beauty and their solitude. Many require surprisingly difficult hikes to reach which means you can often have them all to yourself. The number of waterfalls in this region is staggering. There are something like 87 named waterfalls in Transylvania County, NC alone!! I've barely scratched the surface when it comes ot exploring the regions' waterfalls and I love it!
I created this album to share the beauty I've found exploring the waters of the Southern Appalachians. I hope you enjoy them and I would welcome any pictures you may have from this area. I'm always looking for new falls to visit! Enjoy!!
Get A Guide...
Many of the waterfalls in the Southern Appalachains are quite diffucult to find. Just getting to the trailhead down narrow, winding dirt roads can be an adventure in intself. From there its often a steep climb or descent to a rocky gorge where you may find you have a tough bushwhack along the creekside to get a decent view. For me this just adds to the enjoyment when I get there. Needless to say you will need a good guidebook, an accurate map, and a compass for good measure.
I rely primarily on these three guidebooks:
North Carolina Waterfalls, by Ken Adams
Waterfalls of Virginia and West Virginia, by Ken Adams
Tennessee Waterfalls, by Gregory Plumb
Along with these you are going to need some good maps. The DeLorme Atlas' for North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, & West Virginia will help you find your way down those mountain backroads and I've found the Trails Illustrated maps by National Geographic quite reliable once on the trail.
Along with the guidebooks he has written above Ken Adams has a great supplemental website you can visit HERE that gives great info on road and trail closings as well as new waterfalls that are not listed in his books.
Also, you won't want to miss NCWaterfalls.com. It is probably the most extensive website on waterfalls I've found. Despite its name he has good info and pics of waterfalls all over the Southern Appalachians. He also gives some great tips on how to shoot waterfalls that I have found very helpful.
That should get ya going!
Rainy Days are a Good Thing...
Another thing I like about waterfalls is that they give me a good excuse to get out in the woods even on a dreary day. In fact, the drearier the better. The slow shutter speeds required for that silky look in many waterfall shots require an absence of bright, glaring light. You have no idea how frustrated I get after hiking 2 miles down a ravine, get set up, and have the sun break through the clouds. AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!So, if you're wanting to go out and shoot that perfect waterfall pic, pray for rain (or at least a good, thick cloud cover:)!
Georgia...
Waterfalls collected thus far, alphabetically, in Georgia...| 34.5701 N 84.24884 W |
| 34.76545 N 83.71394 W |
| 34.7768 N 83.52428 W |
| 34.9857 N 83.55 W |
| 34.706167 N 83.915833 W |
| 34.7533 N 83.895 W |
| 34.6485 N 84.0222 W |
| 34.6698 N 84.1889 W |
| 34.7475 N 83.480667 W |
North Carolina
Waterfalls collected thus far, alphabetically, in North Carolina...| 36.07250 N 81.7432 W |  |
| 36.391 N 81.572 W |  |
| 36.12047 N 81.78671 W |
| 35.31096 N 82.90733 W |
| 36.08441 N 81.78635 W |  |
| 36.249341 N 81.454337 W |  |  |
| 35.27511 N 82.89329 W |  |
| 36.20337 N 81.79423 W |
| 35.85802 N 82.13631 W |  |
| 35.116397 N 83.269527 W |
| 35.72667 N 82.38028 W |
| 36.119 N 81.494 W |  |
| 35.068091 N 83.239067 W |  |
| 36.19849 N 81.96769 W |
| 35.32551 N 82.89886 W |
| 36.12473 N 81.68231 W |
| 36.12473 N 81.68231 W |  |
| 35.64705 N 82.29879 W |
| 36.16408 N 81.73378 W |
| 35.19272 N 82.61367 W |  |
| 35.594419 N 81.635552 W |
| 36.01938 N 81.80346 W |  |
| 35.20211 N 82.623752 W |  |
| 35.47266 N 83.42783 W |
| 35.59500 N 81.60048 W |
| 36.25235 N 81.85261 W |
| 35.94957 N 81.92678 W |  |
| 36.08334 N 81.79148 W |
| 35.32233 N 82.80342 W |
| North Tributary 35.32233 N 82.80342 W |
| South Tributary 35.32233 N 82.80342 W |  |
| 35.531944 N 83.274722 W |
| 36.20630 N 81.8753 W |
| 35.76020 N 82.1918 W |
| 35.14690 N 83.5648 W |
| 35.321667 N 82.845278 W |
| |  |
| 35.06604 N 83.06694 W |
| 36.048333 N 81.595000 W |  |
| 35.467 N 83.431 W |
| 35.77760 N 82.0623 W |
| 35.19900 N 82.6713 W |
| (Dixon Creek) 36.10971 N 81.77995 W |
| (Wilson Creek) 36.09871 N 81.8065 W |  |  |
| 35.96140 N 81.8626 W |
| 36.06900 N 81.9232 W |  |
South Carolina
Waterfalls collected thus far, alphabetically, in South Carolina...| 35.10897 N 82.66340 W |  |
| 34.96862 N 83.10963 W |  |
Tennessee
Waterfalls collected thus far, alphabetically, in Tennessee...| 35.60833 N 83.87972 W |  |
| 36.5922 N 81.8155 W |  |
| 36.25333 N 82.11888 W |  |
| 36.24969 N 82.0991 W |  |
| 36.2496 N 82.0872 W |  |
| 35.6739 N 83.4496 W |  |
| 35.63868 N 83.55157 W |  |
| 35.6358 N 83.5866 W |  |
| 35.6775 N 83.59302 W |  |
| 35.66194 N 83.46306 W |  |
| 36.2309 N 81.97517 W |  |
Virginia
Waterfalls collected thus far, alphabetically, in Virginia...| 36.63230 N 81.5187 W |   |   |
| |  |
| 38.51889 N 78.42361 W |  |  |  |
| |  |  |
| 38.229146 N 78.705840 W |  |
| 38.520278 N 78.449722 W |  |
| 36.87480 N 82.46250 W |  |  |  |
| 38.512864 N 78.467748 W |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| 38.564 N 78.3637 W |   |   |  |
| 36.646 N 81.4898 W |  |
West Virginia
Waterfalls collected thus far, alphabetically, in West Virginia...| 39.108889 N 79.496111 W |  |  |
| 39.10889 N 79.49611 W | [img:232188:aligncenter:small:] |
