Douglas Falls
Douglas Falls is a waterfall in North Carolina, at a modelled elevation of 1,296 m. Clingmans Peak stands 1,981 m to the east, 5.0 miles off. The nearest named place is Craggy Mountain Wilderness Study Area, a nature reserve 0.5 miles away. Blue Ridge Parkway passes 0.8 miles off.
The story
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 flows off the slope of Craggy Pinnacle, starting just below the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is surrounded by a forest of very large Eastern Hemlock 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.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q5301461, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
How to reach it
- 0.8 mi off the Blue Ridge Parkway, National
- 8.2 mi off the Black Mountain Rag
- 11.2 mi off the French Broad Overview
- 11.7 mi off the Interstate 26 Scenic Highway
Overlooks nearby
- Graybeard Mountain View (MP 363.4) · 1 mi
- Craggy Dome Overlook (MP 364.1) · 1 mi
- Craggy Pinnacle Summit · 1 mi
- Lower Overlook · 1 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Spruce Pinnacle: 0.9 mi
- Bullhead Mountain: 1.0 mi
- Craggy Dome: 1.1 mi
- Big Fork Knob: 1.1 mi
- Craggy Pinnacle: 1.2 mi
- Welsh Field: 6.7 mi
- Lake Tomahawk Park: 7.3 mi
- Lake Tomahawk Park: 7.5 mi
- Youth Center Park: 7.7 mi
- Town Square: 7.7 mi
- Cascades Falls: 0.6 mi
- Glassmine Falls: 2.6 mi
- Walker Falls: 2.7 mi
- Graybeard Falls: 5.9 mi
- Mitchell Falls: 6.4 mi
- Tennis Court: 5.8 mi
- Spring House: 5.8 mi
- Caretaker's Cabin: 5.8 mi
- Tool Shed: 5.8 mi
- Potato House: 5.8 mi
- Dr. John Wilson Community Garden: 8.3 mi
- Columbarium Garden: 9.4 mi
- Griffing Rose Garden: 11.5 mi
- Mountain Gardens: 12.0 mi
- Terrace garden: 12.0 mi
- Blue Ridge Assembly: 8.6 mi
- Tebbé Davies Fine Art Studios: 8.9 mi
- Flat Iron Statue: 13.4 mi
- Deco Gecko: 13.4 mi
- Passage: 13.5 mi
- Mt Mitchell Museum: 6.9 mi
- Swannanoa Valley Museum: 7.8 mi
- Dry Ridge Historical Museum: 11.1 mi
- Rural Heritage Museum: 12.3 mi
- Old Fort Railroad Museum: 12.5 mi
- Little Snowball Lookout Tower: 4.2 mi
- Navitat Canopy Adventures: 6.4 mi
- McDowell Tourism Authority: 12.6 mi
- Buck Creek Trout Farm: 12.7 mi
- Botanical Gardens at Asheville: 13.1 mi
- Craggy Mountain Wilderness Study Area: 0.5 mi
- Pisgah National Forest: 3.3 mi
- Rocky Knob: 5.3 mi
- Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary: 11.9 mi
- Falconhurst-West Asheville Preserve: 15.5 mi
- Slaty Cliffs: 5.5 mi
- Last house on the Hare RDG: 16.8 mi
- Raven Cliffs: 21.6 mi
- Cloven Cliffs: 22.7 mi
- The Pinnacles: 22.9 mi
- Marion Rest Area - Eastbound: 20.7 mi
- Marion Rest Area - Westbound: 20.7 mi
- McDowell County Rest Area: 20.8 mi
- I-26 Buncombe County Rest Area: 22.1 mi
- I-26 Henderson County Rest Area: 22.1 mi
- Pinnacle Spring: 5.8 mi
- Hemphill Spring: 6.2 mi
- Mountain Spring @ Lakey Gap: 9.9 mi
- Mt Mitchell Picnic Grounds: 7.0 mi
- Carolina Hemlocks Rec. Area Picnic Site: 11.2 mi
- Lake Powhatan Beach: 21.7 mi
- Riverside Park Beach Access: 21.8 mi
- Lost Cove: 24.2 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 5.5 miles of Douglas Falls. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clingmans Peak | E 79° | 1,981 m | 5.0 mi |
| Mount Gibbes | ENE 76° | 1,971 m | 5.1 mi |
| Potato Knob | E 82° | 1,946 m | 4.7 mi |
| Blackstock Knob | ENE 69° | 1,910 m | 3.4 mi |
| Craggy Dome | SSE 158° | 1,853 m | 1.1 mi |
| Patton Knob | ENE 78° | 1,828 m | 4.0 mi |
| Big Butt | NNE 19° | 1,807 m | 4.8 mi |
| Bullhead Mountain | ESE 109° | 1,798 m | 1.0 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:34 | 19:08 | 19:42 |
| June solstice | 06:15 | 20:12 | 20:49 |
| September equinox | 07:18 | 18:54 | 19:28 |
| December solstice | 07:36 | 16:41 | 17:20 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Apr–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 38 | 41 | 47 | 56 | 64 | 70 | 73 | 72 | 66 | 57 | 48 | 41 |
| Precip in | 4.3 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 5.0 | 4.7 | 5.4 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 4.3 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — N FK 2, 4 mi away.
Months at or above the year’s average flow: Dec–May, Sep — fullest in Mar, leanest in Jul.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean cfs | 57.1 | 56.0 | 60.0 | 56.3 | 52.7 | 33.0 | 26.0 | 27.3 | 47.4 | 30.3 | 35.3 | 49.6 |
USGS monthly mean discharge at gauge North Fork Swannanoa River Near Walkertown, NC, 3 mi away — the nearest gauge, which can sit on a different stream.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/551055828
Day trips start here
- Asheville · 14 mi
Take the scenic way to Douglas Falls.
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