Waterfalls Galleries

Big Creek Tributaries - Gunter Fork and Swallow Creek, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC (10/2009) :

Big Creek Tributaries - Gunter Fork and Swallow Creek, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC (10/2009)

Updated: Nov 02, 2009 12:50pm PST

Laurel Falls, Laurel Creek of the Doe River, TN, with Guests (10/2009) : Mark first visited Laurel Falls in as a teenager growing up in upper East Tennessee and it has been on his mind ever since. The 55-ft. drop is located two miles up the Appalachian Trail from Hampton, TN, making it an easy dayhike. Laurel Creek, a tributary of the Doe River, cuts through a narrow gorge here, creating an intimate canyon. We visited at the tail-end of a backpacking trip to the Smokies, catching the gorge at peak fall foliage on a rainy October day. Laurel Falls drains the northern slopes of Roan Mountain, which was socked in by heavy cloud-cover. We'll visit this famous Appalachian bald on our next trip.

Laurel Falls, Laurel Creek of the Doe River, TN, with Guests (10/2009)

Mark first visited Laurel Falls in as a teenager growing up in upper E ...

Updated: Nov 02, 2009 12:45pm PST

Shays Run, WV, 7/2006 : Shays Run spills into the Blackwater River gorge on river left near the lodge at Blackwater State Park. The first falls, known as Elakala Falls, has a trail by it and is easily viewed. Downstream and beyond the trail there are several much larger cascades that require Creekyoneering™ to see. Few places offer this many wonderous cascades in such a compact space. The creek has a northern aspect and gets little sunlight, creating a dark and mysterious feel with moss covered rocks and thick vegetation.

Shays Run, WV, 7/2006

Shays Run spills into the Blackwater River gorge on river left near th ...

Updated: Oct 18, 2006 1:14pm PST

South Cumberland Waterfalls, TN 2005-2006 : The South Cumberland plateau, a relatively unknown region of Appalachia, is home to dozens of striking waterfalls formed by sandstone/limestone strata created along the plateau's eastern and western escarpments. The highest plunging waterfall east of the rockies - 256-ft. Fall Creek Falls - is located here. The area sits over the largest system of caves in North America. Near Fall Creek Falls, the newly-disclosed Rumble Room cave is, at 4 acres, the second largest known cave room in North America. Many of the streams in the area run both above and underground and numerous waterfalls feature unusual "sinks" formations where the flow goes underground right below the falls. We are visiting these falls, accessible with short walks from parking areas or longer day hikes, when we travel in the area to visit relatives. (

South Cumberland Waterfalls, TN 2005-2006

The South Cumberland plateau, a relatively unknown region of Appalachi ...

Updated: Aug 25, 2006 9:24am PST

Greenland Gap, WV (7/2008) : Greenland Gap slices through a ridge in the Potomac Highlands and offers a stunning slice of exposed cliffs and deep creek gorge. We pass through here often on our way to the Canaan Valley. The falls is on the east side of the gap on the South Fork, Patterson Creek. The rhododendron forests here peak in July annually and form an incredible wall of blooms. The Nature Conservancy owns much of this gap.

Greenland Gap, WV (7/2008)

Greenland Gap slices through a ridge in the Potomac Highlands and offe ...

Updated: Jul 14, 2008 7:02pm PST

Upper Seneca Creek & Falls, WV (8/2007) : Seneca Creek is a Potomac River headwaters stream that drains Spruce Knob, the highest mountaintop in West Virginia. These two features serve as pivot points in a national recreation area remotely located in the mountain state. The upper section of Seneca Creek contains numerous waterfalls and slides as it cuts through a lush forest, creating a narrow, mossy gorge. A trail follows the creek for the first few miles before damage from past floods washes the tread out (the forest service has officially abandoned trail along the prettiest section of Seneca Creek below Upper Seneca Falls). We mountain biked on an old rail grade along the creek to reach the 30 ft. high Upper Seneca Falls, which requires a minimum of 3 1/2 miles of trail travel to reach from any direction. Then we set out on foot to explore downstream. Although the old rail grade remains in spots, travel is slow along the banks of the creek through washed-out areas. We reached a 20 ft. falls called Standing Rock Falls before turning around due to daylight constraints. Additional falls lie downstream and we hope to make it to the forest service boundary on a future trip.

Upper Seneca Creek & Falls, WV (8/2007)

Seneca Creek is a Potomac River headwaters stream that drains Spruce K ...

Updated: Nov 14, 2007 9:32pm PST

Red Run, WV 2006,2007 : Red Run drains off Canaan and Mozark Mountains in Tucker Co., WVA. The water has a natural red tint. There are no maintained trails in the gorge but the stream is popular with fly fishermen, who have worn an intermittent trail in the lower reaches. We bushwhacked up 2 or so miles of this stream on July 4th, 2006 but had to turn back after a heavy rain storm hit and decided to linger. We visited Red Run Falls, a 25 ft. drop onto rocks where the stream then proceeds to flow under an overhanging limestone shelf. At this same place a small tributary spills over the Rock House overhang and plunges 40 ft. into Red Run. Bring your creekyoneering mindset or you will spend some of the time wrestling with rhody out of view of the creek.

Red Run, WV 2006,2007

Red Run drains off Canaan and Mozark Mountains in Tucker Co., WVA. The ...

Updated: Nov 28, 2007 2:50pm PST

Virgin Falls, TN 8/2006 : Tennessee's Virgin Falls will leave you breathless, mesmerized and perplexed - really, it is almost impossible to overstate the magnificence of this place. This 100-foot waterfall is located on the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee in the Caney Fork Gorge region. The hike is a strenuous 8 miles round trip and offers numerous outstanding examples of how water moves both above and below ground in a karst geologic zone. Virgin Falls is subtle in what makes it so wonderful beyond its immediately apparent beauty. First, it flows with water even when surrounding streambeds are completely dry in the summer months. Second, the stream forming the falls is an underground creek that emerges from a cave 200 feet upstream of the falls. Third, the stream plunges over the falls and then sinks back into the limestone strata never to be seen again. This place tucked away in a remote corner of Appalachia is virtually unknown. Until a few years ago, the falls was located on private timber company land. The falls is now protected by Tennessee on a 10,000 acre tract in the Caney Fork region that was donated by the previous owner - a tire company. The images in this gallery were taken at low flows during the summer of a drought season.

Virgin Falls, TN 8/2006

Tennessee's Virgin Falls will leave you breathless, mesmerized and per ...

Updated: Oct 18, 2006 1:11pm PST

West Virginia Waterfalls 2004-2006 : Waterfalls are a soothing power driven by the chaos of whitewater. They leave us in awe of the power of nature.

West Virginia Waterfalls 2004-2006

Waterfalls are a soothing power driven by the chaos of whitewater. The ...

Updated: Dec 16, 2006 7:54pm PST

Maryland Waterfalls : Western Maryland has numerous waterfalls and is just around the corner from West Virginia.

Maryland Waterfalls

Western Maryland has numerous waterfalls and is just around the corner ...

Updated: Feb 13, 2007 3:33pm PST