Asheville Area Waterfalls

Waterfalls around Asheville are more than places to stop. They’re waypoints in a mountain story written in rock, rain, rhododendron, and rushing water.

In Western North Carolina, the creeks and rivers that tumble off the Blue Ridge Mountains carve a network of spectacular cascades you can approach on foot, by car, or along scenic drives that unfold layer by layer. Some, like Looking Glass Falls, are dramatic curtain drops you can see from the roadside, perfect for stretching your legs and your lens; others reveal themselves only after the quiet rhythm of a forest trail through Pisgah National Forest or along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Summer afternoons here might find you at Sliding Rock, letting a 60-foot natural water slide send you splashing into mountain pools, while spring and fall hikes lead to hidden gems like creeks cascading under mossy boughs or multi-tiered falls tucked between fern-lined ridges. Wherever you wander, the sound of water tumbling over stone feels like an invitation: follow it.