Hickory Nut Falls
North Carolina · height not recorded · Chimney Rock State Park · Last verified 2026-05-15
Flow at Hickory Nut Falls is light today (34 cfs) — visit for the geology, not the volume.
Right now
Streamflow
34.1 cfs
COVE CREEK NEAR LAKE · 19m ago
Overnight
66°F
Mostly Clear
Friday
85°F
Mostly Sunny then Chance Showers And Thunderstorms
Today's daylight
Sunrise 6:21 AM · Sunset 8:46 PM · 14h 25m
Snapshot built 9m ago. Sources: USGS · NWS GSP.
Hickory Nut Falls is a waterfall in Rutherford County, 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.
Hickory Nut Falls sits in Rutherford County, North Carolina. The falls are inside Chimney Rock State Park. The base sits at roughly 2,588 feet of elevation. Drive time is about 2 minutes from Chimney Rock Village. A trail — Skyline Trail — runs within 40 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.
Entry is free. Dogs on leash are welcome on the access trail.
Hickory Nut Falls, also known as Hickorynut Falls, is a waterfall located at Chimney Rock State Park in Rutherford 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 02149000 · 8.4 mi away
COVE CREEK NEAR LAKE LURE, NC
View live discharge data →
30-day streamflow
Below 30-day average↻ Same date last year: 88.9 cfs · 43% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hickory Nut Falls (this page) | — | — | — | Y | Free |
| Wolf Creek Falls | 1 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
| Rainbow Falls | 1 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
| Bottomless Pools | 2 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
| Pool Creek Falls | 2 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
| Upper Pool Creek Falls | 2 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
Questions visitors ask about Hickory Nut Falls
Answers built from our structured data. If a question isn't here, the fact is unverified — we'd rather omit than guess.
Is Hickory Nut Falls in a national or state park?
Yes — Hickory Nut Falls is inside Chimney Rock State Park. 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 Hickory Nut Falls?
Yes — dogs are allowed (Chimney Rock State Park 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 Hickory Nut Falls?
No entrance fee. Chimney Rock State Park is free to access. Some trailheads may charge a parking fee separately.
How far is Hickory Nut Falls from a major city?
Hickory Nut Falls is 1 miles from Chimney Rock Village (about 2 minutes' drive).
More waterfalls in North Carolina
Where it is
35.4330, -82.2595
Sources and live status
Where we got the data, and where to check current conditions before you drive.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hickory_Nut_Falls
Wikidata (Q37626)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37626
GeoNames (4470899)
https://www.geonames.org/4470899/
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 Hickory Nut 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).
Add a tip
Something we should know — best time, parking trick, that hidden viewpoint.
Share a photo
Have a CC-licensed image on Wikimedia or Flickr? Send the link.
Report a fix
Wrong height, closed trail, broken link — tell us what we got wrong.
We don't collect your email. Replies go directly to hello@fallspots.com.