Crabtree Falls
North Carolina · 66-foot drop · Last verified 2026-05-15
Flow at Crabtree Falls is light today (30 cfs) — visit for the geology, not the volume. July averages 6.6" of precipitation here — expect high flow.
Right now
Streamflow
29.8 cfs
SOUTH TOE RIVER NEAR · 1h ago
Overnight
63°F
Mostly Clear
Friday
81°F
Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms then Chance Showers And Thunderstorms
Today's daylight
Sunrise 6:20 AM · Sunset 8:47 PM · 14h 27m
Snapshot built 11m ago. Sources: USGS · NWS GSP.
Crabtree Falls is a waterfall in Yancey County, North Carolina. It drops roughly 66 feet. Access details and conditions have not yet been verified in person by Fallspots — the data on this page comes from OpenStreetMap and USGS GNIS.
Crabtree Falls sits in Yancey County, North Carolina. The base sits at roughly 3,342 feet of elevation. Drive time is about 11 minutes from Spruce Pine. A trail — Crabtree Falls Trail — runs within 30 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 and USGS GNIS.
Crabtree Falls is a waterfall located near the boundary of McDowell County and Yancey County, 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 03463300 · 2.1 mi away
SOUTH TOE RIVER NEAR CELO, NC
View live discharge data →
30-day streamflow
Near 30-day average↻ Same date last year: 71.3 cfs · 52% of last year — significantly drier
When to go (from the climate data, not our opinion)
Monthly averages from Open-Meteo's reanalysis dataset (2020–2024). Highlighted months are when we think the waterfall is at its best — but the numbers are the numbers regardless.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip (in) | Snow days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 43 | 27 | 5.5 | 10.6 |
| Feb | 49 | 31 | 4.9 | 6 |
| Mar | 56 | 37 | 5.1 | 2.4 |
| Apr | 60 | 41 | 4.5 | 2.2 |
| May | 67 | 50 | 6.3 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 74 | 58 | 4.1 | 0 |
| Jul | 79 | 63 | 6.6 | 0 |
| Aug | 77 | 62 | 6.7 | 0 |
| Sep | 71 | 55 | 7.5 | 0 |
| Oct | 63 | 46 | 3.3 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 54 | 37 | 3.3 | 1.6 |
| Dec | 48 | 31 | 4 | 5 |
Source: Open-Meteo Historical Weather API · ERA5 reanalysis 2020–2024.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crabtree Falls (this page) | — | 66 ft | — | — | — |
| Murphy Falls | 2 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Bon Ami Falls | 2 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Crabtree Falls | 3 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Camp Celo Falls | 4 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
| Roaring Spout Falls | 4 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
Side-by-side comparisons
Crabtree Falls compared head-to-head with other documented falls — height, access, fees, dogs, swimmability in one row each.
Related waterfalls
Similar height (~66 ft)
- Bridal Veil Falls66 ft
- Buckeye Falls66 ft
- Buttermilk Falls66 ft
- Crevice Falls66 ft
- King Creek Falls66 ft
Questions visitors ask about Crabtree Falls
Answers built from our structured data. If a question isn't here, the fact is unverified — we'd rather omit than guess.
How tall is Crabtree Falls?
Crabtree Falls is 66 feet (20 m) tall. Height is sourced from OSM.
How far is Crabtree Falls from a major city?
Crabtree Falls is 8 miles from Spruce Pine (about 11 minutes' drive).
More waterfalls in North Carolina
Where it is
35.8198, -82.1496
Sources and live status
Where we got the data, and where to check current conditions before you drive.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crabtree_Falls_(North_Carolina)
Wikidata (Q37332)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37332
GeoNames (4462321)
https://www.geonames.org/4462321/
Last verified by Fallspots: 2026-05-15
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