Whitewater Falls

     Where the southwestern border of North Carolina meets South Carolina, the Blue Ridge Mountains quickly descend into the Piedmont region. From the Foothills Parkway and Lake Jocassee you may look northward at the Blue Ridge escarpment, an area called the Blue Wall by Cherokee Indians. Mostly undeveloped and extremely rugged, the Blue Wall drops over 2000 feet in less than a half mile. Here where north meets south, visitors may enjoy one of the largest concentrations of waterfalls, a series of spectacular gorges and a land that contains more rare plants and tree species than in all of Europe.
     Just a few miles from the South Carolina border, the Whitewater Falls Recreation Area offers a remarkable vantage point to view the tallest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains. The most beautiful upper Whitewater Falls drops 411 feet in a series of broad cascades. Just across the border in Oconee County, South Carolina, the Whitewater River continues its descent and plunges another 200 feet at the lower falls. Over its two and a half mile course, the river drops 1071 feet.
     The Whitewater Falls Scenic Area, a day use park east of Sapphire, offers a picnic area, rest rooms and a paved pathway to the falls area. For the best viewpoint, a staircase leads down to a small observation platform that hangs out over the gorge. For those with plenty of energy, a half mile Foothills Trail leads down to the Whitewater River. Park signs suggest there are no better waterfall viewpoints once you descend into the gorge. But for the avid hiker, the trail leads into South Carolina for a look at Corbin Creek Falls.

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