About this spot
Mouse Creek Falls is a 41-45 ft waterfall on Big Creek in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, reached via the Big Creek Trail from the Big Creek Campground near Waynesville (about 2.1 miles in on an easy, well-graded path). A swimming hole sits at its base, documented by the NPS and thousands of hiker reviews. The area's real jump destination is Midnight Hole, a deep plunge pool below a 6 ft cascade roughly 0.7 miles closer to the trailhead, where jumping off streamside rocks is common and well documented; Mouse Creek Falls itself is taller and better suited to wading and viewing than jumping. Rocks are slick with algae and mist — don't climb them. Big Creek Trail partially reopened in 2025 after Hurricane Helene damage; verify current NPS status before visiting.