Rainbow Falls
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Rainbow Falls is a waterfall in North Carolina, at a modelled elevation of 804 m. Toxaway Mountain stands 1,452 m to the north-northwest, 3.0 miles off. The nearest named place is Turtleback Falls, a waterfall 0.1 miles away. Whitewater Way passes 0.3 miles off.
The story
Rainbow Falls is a waterfall in Western North Carolina, located near Brevard. The falls is located on the Horsepasture River. It is on Pisgah National Forest land just outside Gorges State Park.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q37882, matched on coordinates and name (20 m apart).
What the record says
- Height
- 39 m
How to reach it
- 0.3 mi off the Whitewater Way
- 1.4 mi off the Waterfall Byway
- 7.3 mi off the Oscar Wigington Scenic Byway
- 8.0 mi off the Forest Heritage Scenic Byway
Overlooks nearby
- Rainbow Falls · 1 mi
- Gorges Overlook · 1 mi
- Whitewater Falls Viewing Platform · 5 mi
- Whitewater Falls Overlook · 5 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Turtleback Falls: 0.1 mi
- Drift Falls: 0.3 mi
- Stairway Falls: 0.6 mi
- Sidepocket Falls: 0.8 mi
- Little Falls: 1.2 mi
- Roundtop: 0.9 mi
- Rocky Knobs: 0.9 mi
- Chestnut Mountain: 1.8 mi
- Puncheon Camp Mountain: 2.0 mi
- Rainy Knobs: 2.0 mi
- Silver Run Falls: 5.9 mi
- Bootleg Access Area: 7.3 mi
- McKinney Meadow: 7.4 mi
- Cashiers Village Green Park: 7.8 mi
- Sloan Bridge Picnic Area: 7.8 mi
- Sheep Cliff: 8.0 mi
- Chattooga Cliffs: 9.6 mi
- Horseshoe Rock: 10.3 mi
- River Cliffs: 10.7 mi
- Wildcat Cliffs: 11.5 mi
- Air Force B25C Plane Crash Memorial: 10.8 mi
- North Carolina Confederate Veterans Memorial Forest: 15.0 mi
- General Pickens Monument: 15.4 mi
- Camp John Rock: 16.6 mi
- Chattooga Town: 17.1 mi
- Highlands Nature Center: 12.8 mi
- Transylvania Heritage Museum: 16.3 mi
- The Real American Tea Museum: 16.4 mi
- Fine Art Museum: 19.4 mi
- Irma Morris Museum of Fine Arts: 20.5 mi
- Kelsey Trail Preserve: 12.8 mi
- Ralph and Louise Sargent Preserve: 13.0 mi
- Satulah Mountain Preserves: 13.4 mi
- Brushy Face Preserve: 14.0 mi
- Bracken Preserve: 15.6 mi
- Bear Lake Reserve: 11.0 mi
- M1: 16.3 mi
- Judaculla Rock: 16.7 mi
- Devil's Kitchen: 19.1 mi
- The Twelve Mile Defense Bear: 20.4 mi
- Brevard Community Garden: 15.8 mi
- Common Gardening: 19.2 mi
- Common Gardening: 19.3 mi
- Cullowhee Community Garden: 19.8 mi
- Rose Garden: 20.5 mi
- Ear: 19.1 mi
- Chalice: 19.4 mi
- American Eclipse: 19.5 mi
- Wi: 19.5 mi
- Moai Statue: 24.3 mi
- Sandbar Pool Beach: 6.0 mi
- Sandstone Beach: 8.8 mi
- North Beach: 17.7 mi
- South Beach: 19.2 mi
- Cool Spring: 5.0 mi
- Moody Spring: 12.2 mi
- Indian Spring: 25.0 mi
- Coontree Picnic Area: 17.9 mi
- Sycamore Flats Picnic Area: 19.2 mi
- South: 19.2 mi
- Smoky Mountain Visitor Center: 24.2 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 7.1 miles of Rainbow Falls. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toxaway Mountain | NNW 341° | 1,452 m | 3.0 mi |
| Cold Mountain | NNW 348° | 1,414 m | 5.3 mi |
| Chimneytop Mountain | W 278° | 1,401 m | 5.6 mi |
| Little Hogback Mountain | NW 320° | 1,392 m | 4.3 mi |
| Hogback Mountain | NW 320° | 1,386 m | 4.3 mi |
| Laurel Knob | NW 311° | 1,380 m | 6.7 mi |
| Blackrock Mountain | NNW 329° | 1,370 m | 6.7 mi |
| Panthertail Mountain | N 354° | 1,365 m | 5.2 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:36 | 19:10 | 19:44 |
| June solstice | 06:19 | 20:12 | 20:50 |
| September equinox | 07:21 | 18:57 | 19:30 |
| December solstice | 07:37 | 16:45 | 17:24 |
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 | 37 | 40 | 46 | 54 | 62 | 68 | 71 | 70 | 65 | 55 | 46 | 40 |
| Precip in | 8.7 | 7.1 | 7.8 | 7.4 | 7.0 | 7.8 | 9.4 | 8.9 | 9.4 | 6.7 | 7.7 | 8.6 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Lake Toxaway 2 SW, under a mile away.
Months at or above the year’s average flow: Dec–May — fullest in Mar, leanest in Sep.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean cfs | 290 | 314 | 322 | 317 | 264 | 214 | 180 | 183 | 177 | 178 | 205 | 256 |
USGS monthly mean discharge at gauge French Broad River AT Rosman, NC, 9 mi away — the nearest gauge, which can sit on a different stream.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapOpenStreetMap element node/877270365
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