About this spot
Reached via the Catawba Falls Trailhead off Catawba River Road near Old Fort (free, Pisgah National Forest, no permit). Follow the River Trail then the Ridge Trail's newly rebuilt steel staircase system (reopened 2024 after a two-year renovation) up to Upper Falls, an 80-100ft plunge into a deep pool. Pools at the base draw heavy summer crowds and get 'shoulder to shoulder' on weekends; water is cold and current-driven. Wet, mossy rock is the real killer here — multiple fatalities (2017, 2018) followed visitors climbing off-trail onto the falls' edge, and swimming directly beneath the falls is discouraged by the Forest Service. Despite the danger, Catawba Falls appears on regional cliff-diving lists and remains one of WNC's most-jumped waterfalls.