Cane Creek Falls
Macon County, North Carolina
Your visit at a glance
- Waterfall height
- Not recorded
- Location
- Macon County, North Carolina
- Access status
- Partial guide: no trail, steep bushwhack from a gated forest road
- The walk
- About 1.5 miles return (Waterfall Hero hike length); half a mile of road then a trail-less descent
- Ground & access
- Gated forest road, then a steep off-trail descent with route finding. Difficult; not suited to dogs.
Cane Creek Falls is a 25-foot waterfall on Cane Creek, a tributary of the Chattooga River, in Nantahala National Forest south of Cashiers. Waterfall Hero describes walking down gated FR 2052 for just over half a mile, leaving the road at an unobvious break in the vegetation near the 2760-foot contour, and bushwhacking down to the creek below the falls, with the slope getting very steep near the bottom. Hiking the Appalachians reached the same falls by spur paths and a short bushwhack from the Chattooga River Trail. There is no trail to the waterfall.
Plan your visit
Whiteside Cove Road pull-off down gated Forest Road 2052 and a steep bushwhack to Cane Creek Falls
Waterfall Hero lists 1.5 miles round trip: just over half a mile down FR 2052, then a bushwhack to the creek below the falls. No trail distance is measured for the off-trail part.
Gated forest road, then a steep off-trail descent with route finding. Difficult; not suited to dogs.
Where to start
Waterfall Hero: from US 64 in Cashiers take NC 107 south 1.7 miles, right on Whiteside Cove Road 7.1 miles (paved, then gravel, then paved again) to where gated FR 2052 splits left; small pull-offs are on either side of the road. Trailhead GPS 35.03735, -83.14158.
Timing & water
Open year round; the bushwhack is easier with leaves down.
Before you go
Nantahala National Forest. No fee or reservation is reported.
Visitor informationVisit sources
More waterfalls nearby
Within 40 straight-line miles. Road and trail distances will differ.
- Walkingstick FallsPartial guide: roadside view only; private land and no parking spot describedMacon County, NC1.3 miW
- Pothole FallsRoadside bridge view; scramble to the baseMacon County, NC1.4 miSE
- Stick FallsNational forest; short bushwhack with a cliffMacon County, NC1.8 miSW
- Upper Scotsman Creek FallsNational forest; roadside parking and a short off-trail descentJackson County, NC1.8 miSE
- Lower Stick FallsPartial: short but steep bushwhack near cliffs; no trailMacon County, NC1.8 miSW
- Scotsman Creek FallsPartial: no real trail; very steep unofficial path from the roadJackson County, NC1.9 miSE
- Slick Stick FallsPartial guide: no trail; bushwhack and creekwalk onlyMacon County, NC1.9 miSW
- Lower Scotsman Creek FallsPartial guide: no trail below Scotsman Falls; wading and bushwhacking from 2005 directionsJackson County, NC1.9 miSE
- Corkscrew FallsJackson County, NC2.1 miNE