The waterfalls of North Carolina, U.S.A., are a prominent feature of the geography of the piedmont and mountain regions of the state, as well as a major focus of tourism and outdoor recreation. Many of these falls are located in state parks, national forests, wildlife management areas, and other public lands, as well as private property. Many are accessible by established hiking trails, and some developed areas include boardwalks, observation platforms, picnic areas, and other amenities. Some of the highest and most voluminous waterfalls in the eastern United States are located in North Carolin.
Many of the waterfalls in the state are located in Transylvania County, which is called "The Land of Waterfalls". This is due to the orographic lift that results in the area having one of the highest average rainfalls in the United States (90 inches per year).
Silver Run Falls is a beautiful waterfall a few miles from the town of Cashiers, North Carolina. These falls are located within the Blue Ridge Mountain area of North Carolina. Most of the rocks that form these mountains are ancent granitic charnockites, metamorphosed volcanic formations, and sedimentary limestones. The falls descends over a large formation of granite rock into a beautiful tree-lined pool that also features a sandy beach. It is popular with locals and tourists alike and can be quite crowded in the summer months. The falls are located after a flat, 250 yard trail. On the way to the waterfall you'll cross the Whitewater River. It's not very wide at this point. The crossing used to be on a log, but a bridge has recently been built for safety reasons.
There is a second secret falls located above Silver Run. On the left side of the cliff face of the falls, just inside the woods, there is a slope of granite with many roots for handhelds leading to the top of the falls. Follow the trail up top until you hear the second falls on your right.
To get to this falls, head west on Hwy 64 from Lake Toxaway into Cashiers and take a left on Hwy 107. Parking is a little over 4 miles down on the left and is just a wide area on the shoulder with room enough for maybe 5 vehicles or so. The trail head is obvious upon arrival.
The Geological Formation of a Waterfall
Typically, a river or a stream in this case, flows over a large step in the rocks which may have been formed by a fault line. Over a period of years, the edges of this shelf will gradually break away and the waterfall will steadily retreat upstream, creating a gorge of recession. Often, the rock stratum just below the more resistant shelf will be of a softer type, meaning undercutting, due to splashback, will occur here to form a shallow cave-like formation known as a rock shelter or plunge pool under and behind the waterfall. Eventually, the outcropping, more resistant cap rock will collapse under pressure to add blocks of rock to the base of the waterfall. These blocks of rock are then broken down into smaller boulders by attrition as they colide with each other, and they also erode the base of the waterfall by abrasion, creating a deep plunge pool.
Classification of waterfalls:
Block: Water descends from a relatively wide stream or river.
Cascade: Water descends a series of rock steps.
Cataract: A large, powerful waterfall.
Fan: Water spreads horizontally as it descends while remaining in contact with bedrock.
Horsetail: Descending water maintains some contact with bedrock.
Plunge: Water descends vertically, losing contact with the bedrock surface.
Punchbowl: Water descends in a constricted form, then spreads out in a wider pool.
Segmented: Distinctly separate flows of water form as it descends.
Tiered: Water drops in a series of distinct steps or falls.
Multi-step: A series of waterfalls one after another of roughly the same size each with its own sunken plunge pool.
Logging Requirments:
1 - How many feet do you estimate the falls to be before it drops into the pool.
2 - Using the waterfall classification guide above, what classification of waterfall do you believe the waterfall is?
3 - Take a picture of yourself and your GPS with the waterfall in the picture from any angle and post it in with your online log.
Please do not post your answers in your log but contact me with them through my email only. Also please be aware of your surroundings there and do not endanger yourself or others to get your photo to post. (Go ahead and log your visit even after your email of answers. If any thing is different I will contact you through geocaching.com as my yahoo account is totally unusable. Until I can get it fixed or another email account. Thank you!)
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