Rider Falls
North Carolina · height not recorded · Last verified 2026-05-15
Flow at Rider Falls is light today (9 cfs) — visit for the geology, not the volume.
Right now
Streamflow
9.3 cfs
LITTLE YADKIN RIVER AT · 53m ago
Today
66°F
Mostly Sunny
Tonight
38°F
Clear
Today's daylight
Sunrise 7:37 AM · Sunset 6:33 PM · 10h 56m
Snapshot built 8m ago. Sources: USGS · NWS RNK.
No verified photo yet
Rider 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.
Rider Falls is in North Carolina. The base sits at roughly 1,036 feet of elevation. Drive time is about 8 minutes from Pilot Mountain. OpenStreetMap shows a trail within 360 meters of the marked location, though the name isn't recorded. No public parking is recorded within 2 km, so a longer approach is likely. It draws modest visitor attention — busier weekends, quiet weekdays. Source records come from OpenStreetMap.
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 02114450 · 7.2 mi away
LITTLE YADKIN RIVER AT DALTON, NC
View live discharge data →
30-day streamflow
Below 30-day average↻ Same date last year: 11.6 cfs · 77% of last year — similar
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 | 48 | 31 | 4.5 | 3.2 |
| Feb | 54 | 34 | 4.7 | 2.4 |
| Mar | 62 | 41 | 4 | 0.4 |
| Apr | 69 | 46 | 3.8 | 0 |
| May | 76 | 55 | 4.5 | 0 |
| Jun | 84 | 63 | 2.8 | 0 |
| Jul | 89 | 68 | 3.7 | 0 |
| Aug | 86 | 67 | 5.4 | 0 |
| Sep | 79 | 60 | 5 | 0 |
| Oct | 71 | 50 | 2.2 | 0 |
| Nov | 60 | 41 | 3.2 | 0 |
| Dec | 52 | 34 | 3.8 | 1.6 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rider Falls (this page) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Torys Falls | 4 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
| Tise falls | 6 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
| Upper Casscades | 6 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
| Lower Cascades | 6 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
| Hidden Falls | 6 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
Questions visitors ask about Rider Falls
Answers built from our structured data. If a question isn't here, the fact is unverified — we'd rather omit than guess.
How far is Rider Falls from a major city?
Rider Falls is 6 miles from Pilot Mountain (about 8 minutes' drive).
More waterfalls in North Carolina
Where it is
36.3978, -80.3732
Sources and live status
Where we got the data, and where to check current conditions before you drive.
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 Rider 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.
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