Christmas Falls
Transylvania County, North Carolina
Your visit at a glance
- Waterfall height
- Not recorded
- Location
- Transylvania County, North Carolina
- Access status
- Partial guide: no maintained trail; faint path, bushwhack and wading in a state forest
- The walk
- A few hundred feet each way by faint path and bushwhack
- Ground & access
- No maintained trail. Faint path, steep dicey descent, bushwhack and wading. The author says this is best left to experienced bushwhackers and creekwalkers, and that trying to get there quickly will get you hurt.
From the small pullout on the left of Cascade Lake Road, 1.9 miles past the Staton Road turn and just past Merry Falls, a faint path starts at the upper end of the pullout and winds a little over 100 feet to a small bluff above the pool below the falls. The path to the right down to the creek is dicey; the author recommends bushwhacking through the woods around it, then wading upstream a few yards to see the 26-foot falls under its overhanging rock. An alternative is to creekwalk a few hundred feet downstream from Merry Falls.
Plan your visit
Cascade Lake Road pullout below Merry Falls to Christmas Falls, DuPont State Recreational Forest
NCWaterfalls.com gives the hike distance as a few hundred feet; the path to the bluff is a little over 100 feet, then a bushwhack and a short wade. No measured total exists.
No maintained trail. Faint path, steep dicey descent, bushwhack and wading. The author says this is best left to experienced bushwhackers and creekwalkers, and that trying to get there quickly will get you hurt.
Where to start
Small pullout on the left of unpaved Cascade Lake Road, 1.9 miles beyond the Staton Road junction (2.5 miles from US 276 at Cedar Mountain). Trailhead GPS 35.201996, -82.643156. The N.C. Forest Service says DuPont parking lots fill early and the forest opens at 5 a.m. and closes at 10 p.m.
Timing & water
The forest is open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Water level matters for the wade; do not attempt in high water.
Before you go
No fee is stated. Forest rules are state law: no sliding, jumping or climbing on waterfalls, dogs on leash.
Visitor informationVisit sources
More waterfalls nearby
Within 40 straight-line miles. Road and trail distances will differ.
- Merry FallsRoadside waterfall in a state forest; very limited parkingTransylvania County, NC0.1 miS
Hooker FallsShort graded trail in DuPont State Recreational ForestTransylvania County, NC1.1 miE
Triple FallsShort popular trail in DuPont State Recreational ForestTransylvania County, NC1.5 miE
High FallsState forest trail; short walk to overlookTransylvania County, NC1.8 miE- Grassy Creek FallsPartial: state forest road walk; final turn to the falls not describedTransylvania County, NC2.0 miE
- Bridal Veil FallsState forest roads and trail documented by two accounts; official road work noticeTransylvania County, NC2.1 miSE
- Cannon Creek FallsState forest trail; short walkTransylvania County, NC2.3 miSW
- Williamson Creek FallsPartial guide: roadside view only; private land and no parking spot describedTransylvania County, NC3.1 miNW
- Jenn's FallsPartial guide: final approach is off trail and described by one firsthand sourceTransylvania County, NC3.1 miSE