About this spot
Gorges State Park, Sapphire NC, off the Rainbow Falls Trail corridor on the Horsepasture River (accessed via Frozen Creek Rd inside the park, or historically approached from the Gorges/Nantahala side); no separate fee beyond standard state park access. Turtleback Falls is a roughly 15 to 20 foot smooth bedrock slide dropping into a pool just upstream of the much larger 150 foot Rainbow Falls. The water is fast and glassy over slick rock, and it channels directly toward Rainbow Falls' brink. The hazard that matters: multiple documented deaths and serious injuries from sliding or swimming here, especially in high water, with some people swept downstream over Rainbow Falls. Legality: park rangers now explicitly ask visitors not to slide or swim at Turtleback Falls at all, despite its long history as a local summertime swimming hole.