Middle Falls
Wilkes County, North Carolina
Your visit at a glance
- Waterfall height
- Not recorded
- Location
- Wilkes County, North Carolina
- Access status
- Partial guide: part of the park loop trail is closed; check with the park before going
- The walk
- Roughly 1.2 miles each way (estimate); just under 1 mile to the side-trail junction, then a few minutes more
- Ground & access
- Fairly easy trail to the junction, then a blue-blazed side trail. Wet rocks at the falls are slippery; the author used a rope to reach a photo spot.
Middle Falls is on Big Sandy Creek in Stone Mountain State Park. Legacy NC Waterfalls describes starting at the lot near the Hutchinson Homestead, staying right where the summit trail splits left, passing the homestead, and continuing to the signed side trail for Middle and Lower Falls, where blazes change from orange to blue. About 4 minutes on, at a creek crossing, Lower Falls is straight ahead and Middle Falls is to the right, a few minutes down. The park has closed the Stone Mountain Loop Trail from the chimney near the Upper Trailhead down to the Middle Falls/Lower Falls Trail; this approach from the Lower Trailhead does not use that section. Check with the park before going.
Plan your visit
Stone Mountain State Park Lower Trailhead, Stone Mountain Loop Trail past Hutchinson Homestead, then Middle Falls/Lower Falls Trail to Middle Falls
Legacy NC Waterfalls gives just under a mile from its starting lot to the Middle and Lower Falls junction, then about 4 minutes to a creek crossing and a few minutes more to Middle Falls. The total is an estimate, not a measured distance.
Fairly easy trail to the junction, then a blue-blazed side trail. Wet rocks at the falls are slippery; the author used a rope to reach a photo spot.
Where to start
Lower Trailhead parking off John P. Frank Parkway, north of the Hutchinson Homestead, as shown on the park map. Upper Trailhead parking is limited during the stair project.
Timing & water
The park lists the section of Stone Mountain Loop Trail near the waterfalls as closed until further notice. The route description is undated.
Before you go
No day-use fee is mentioned in the reviewed sources.
Visitor informationVisit sources
More waterfalls nearby
Within 40 straight-line miles. Road and trail distances will differ.
- Stone Mountain FallsWilkes County, NC0.3 miE
- Lower FallsPartial guide: usual route closed for stair work; alternative total distance not publishedWilkes County, NC0.4 miS
- Bullhead Creek FallsState park trailhead; very short walkWilkes County, NC1.8 miNW
- Widows FallsState park; short path from a roadside parking areaWilkes County, NC1.9 miNW
- Upper Widows Creek FallsPartial guide: state park trail; effect of a posted Mountains-to-Sea Trail closure on the shared section is not statedWilkes County, NC3.0 miNW
- Bullhead Creek CascadesWilkes County, NC3.7 miNW
- Incredible Falls98 ft (30 m) · Wilkes County, NC4.1 miNW
- Carter FallsSigned public trail from a gravel trailhead lotWilkes County, NC11 miSE
- Amadehy FallsState park trail to falls view; base reached by short steep bushwhackWilkes County, NC19 miSW