Cedar Creek Cascades of Rutherford County
At the place where three North Carolina mountain counties touch, a remarkable series of falls and cascades tumbles down from the Blue Ridge Escarpment. Not shown on any hiking maps, and invisible from parallel Cedar Creek Road, this natural spillway falls over 300 feet in less than half a mile. Rutherford, home to world famous Chimney Rock and Lake Lure, Buncombe, with Asheville and the Biltmore Estate less than twenty miles west, and McDowell Counties, just happen to use Cedar Creek as their boundary.
These Google maps show the location of Cedar Creek Road, and the map below pinpoints the course of Cedar Creek as it plumets down the narrow gorge. The red dots indicate the steepest part of the cascades.
This is rugged territory, and most mountain travelers would never drive up Cedar Creek Road past Buffalo Creek Road, that leads to Lake Lure. The road becomes a narrow gravel drive before reaching Bat Cave and Old Fort Road to the west. What a hidden treasure these falls are.
The five minute video below will give you an idea of the natural wilderness where these cascades have carved their gorge.
Always love listening to the waterfalls