Crabtree Falls (North Carolina)

Crabtree Falls
Location	Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway, Little Switzerland, North Carolina
Coordinates	35°49′10″N 82°09′03″W / 35.8195°N 82.1508°W / 35.8195; -82.1508
Type	Cascade
Total height	70 ft (21 m)
Number of drops	1

Crabtree Falls is a waterfall in Yancey County, North Carolina.

Geology and Natural History

Crabtree Falls is a 70 ft. cascade on Big Crabtree Creek. The creek spreads over a rock face with many small ledges, giving it a delicate appearance, before trickling into a clear pool at the base. Though there are hardly any crabtrees here now, in the spring, an impressive array of wildflowers abound on the trail, including four species of trillium.^[1] By July, ferns fill the forest and soak in the spray of the falls, with rosebay rhododendron in bloom.

History

The Celo USGS topographic quadrangle map labels this falls "Upper Falls", and shows another waterfall some distance away and on another creek being called Crabtree Falls. However, the name Crabtree Falls for this falls is well established.

Visiting the falls

The trailhead is located in the Crabtree Meadows campground at mile marker 339.5 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. A trail leads to a footbridge over the creek at the base of the falls. The trailhead loop starts at the parking area just before the entrance to the campground, and is a medium to strenuous hike at just under 2.5 miles in length. The path to the falls is a rugged, downhill 0.9-mile, with a gentler 1.5-mile uphill return following Crabtree creek upstream before looping back to the parking area.^[1][2]

Nearby Falls

• Murphy Falls
• Big Crabtree Falls
• Grassy Creek Falls
• Falls of Gouges Creek

External links

• Crabtree Falls at NCWaterfalls.com

Gallery

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  Crabtree Falls

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  Crabtree Falls

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  Crabtree Falls

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  Crabtree Falls

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  Crabtree Falls

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  Crabtree Falls

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  Winter

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  Winter

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  Foot Bridge

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  Crabtree Creek Upstream

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Adams, Kevin. North Carolina Waterfalls, pp. 137-140
2. ^ Logue, Logue & Blouin. (1997) Guide To The Blue Ridge Parkway; Menasha Ridge Press; ISBN 0-89732-550-8