Soco Falls

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina, USA

About Soco Falls

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Soco Falls was another waterfall we visited during our brief time in the vicinity of the Great Smoky Mountains near Cherokee.

This waterfall was actually a pair of converging small waterfalls (I’m guessing its about 40ft or so).

Soco_Falls_006_20121020 - Contextual view of Soco Falls from the official viewing platform
Contextual view of Soco Falls from the official viewing platform

I’ve seen claims that it’s 120ft but I doubt you get to see all of it if that’s indeed the case.

It appeared that there was a newly built viewing platform that gave us a direct view of the taller (and prettier) part of Soco Falls.

This platform was only a few minutes walk on a narrow, descending trail that hugged the embankment supporting the Hwy 19.

Improving the Soco Falls Viewing Experience

However, we wanted to get more direct (hence better) views of BOTH waterfalls in one go, so we looked around for a path to do that.

We eventually noticed a scrambling path that went around the viewing platform with some stringy guide lines that provided rather minimal support for the steep descent below the viewing area.

Soco_Falls_017_20121020 - View from the bottom of Soco Falls
View from the bottom of Soco Falls

This descent was definitely not for everyone as the steep slope was muddy, slippery, and appeared to be unstable.

A spill here could be really bad (i.e. broken bones or worse) so we’ll leave it up to you to gauge whether you find it’s worth getting the view you see at the top of this page.

Otherwise, when in doubt, leave it out!

Similarly, going up the steep slope required using all four limbs so that should give you an idea of how precarious it can be.

Authorities

Soco Falls resides outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Maggie Valley, North Carolina. It is administered by the Cherokee Indian Reservation. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the NPS website even though they’re technically not in charge of Soco Falls.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: great smoky mountains, national park, cherokee, indian reservation, north carolina, waterfall



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Soco Falls in western North Carolina October 31, 2014 12:09 am by Ron Andrews - I visited Asheville, NC last week. I only had one day for waterfall hunting. I enjoyed Soco Falls. I've never seen a double falls like this where two branches of a creek come together at the bottom of the gorge. There is a viewing platform near the highway. The view from the bottom of the… ...Read More

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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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