Catawba Falls
North Carolina · height not recorded · Pisgah National Forest · Last verified 2026-05-15
Flow at Catawba Falls is light today (8 cfs) — visit for the geology, not the volume.
Right now
Streamflow
7.64 cfs
NORTH FORK SWANNANOA RIVER · 1h ago
Overnight
66°F
Mostly Clear
Friday
87°F
Mostly Sunny then Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms
Today's daylight
Sunrise 6:21 AM · Sunset 8:46 PM · 14h 26m
Snapshot built 12m ago. Sources: USGS · NWS GSP.
Catawba Falls is a waterfall in North Carolina. Height has not been officially recorded. Access details and conditions have not yet been verified in person by Fallspots — the data on this page comes from OpenStreetMap and USGS GNIS.
Catawba Falls is in North Carolina. It drops along Catawba Falls is a series of waterfalls on the headwaters of the Catawba River. The falls are inside Pisgah National Forest. The base sits at roughly 2,391 feet of elevation. Drive time is about 6 minutes from Old Fort. A trail — Catawba Falls River Trail — runs within 90 meters of the marked location. No public parking is recorded within 2 km, so a longer approach is likely. This is one of the more frequently visited falls in the state by our popularity model. Source records come from OpenStreetMap.
Entry is free. Dogs on leash are welcome on the access trail.
Catawba Falls is a series of waterfalls on the headwaters of the Catawba River, in McDowell County, near Old Fort, North Carolina.
Is the water flowing right now?
Most waterfall sites don't tell you this. The waterfall itself is almost never gauged, but a USGS streamgage in the same watershed can tell you whether snowmelt has started, peaked, or run dry.
USGS gage 0344894205 · 7.5 mi away
NORTH FORK SWANNANOA RIVER NEAR WALKERTOWN, NC
View live discharge data →
30-day streamflow
Below 30-day average↻ Same date last year: 23.1 cfs · 36% of last year — significantly drier
Compare to nearby falls
If this one isn't the right fit, here's how it stacks up against the closest documented falls. Every column is filterable on the site — not buried in 13,000 reviews.
| Waterfall | Distance | Height | Trail | Dogs | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catawba Falls (this page) | — | — | — | Y | Free |
| Lower Catawaba Falls | 0 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
| Upper Catawba Falls | 0 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
| Davids Falls | 1 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
| Graybeard Falls | 5 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Slick Falls | 6 mi | — | — | — | — |
Questions visitors ask about Catawba Falls
Answers built from our structured data. If a question isn't here, the fact is unverified — we'd rather omit than guess.
Is Catawba Falls in a national or state park?
Yes — Catawba Falls is inside Pisgah National Forest. We inferred this from OpenStreetMap protected-area polygons; if you find we got the boundary wrong, please report it. See the park page for fees, hours, and current conditions.
Can I bring my dog to Catawba Falls?
Yes — dogs are allowed (Pisgah National Forest permits leashed dogs in most areas). Inferred from park type; check the official site for trail-specific restrictions. Always leash and pack out waste.
Is there a fee to visit Catawba Falls?
No entrance fee. Pisgah National Forest is free to access. Some trailheads may charge a parking fee separately.
How far is Catawba Falls from a major city?
Catawba Falls is 4 miles from Old Fort (about 6 minutes' drive).
More waterfalls in North Carolina
Where it is
35.6040, -82.2452
Sources and live status
Where we got the data, and where to check current conditions before you drive.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catawba_Falls
Wikidata (Q37354)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37354
Last verified by Fallspots: 2026-05-15
Been there?
Marina and Theo verify pages one road trip at a time. If you've been to Catawba Falls recently, your local knowledge improves the page for everyone. Pick the kind of contribution that fits — every email lands in our inbox and gets read (and credited when we publish).
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