More Easy to Access Waterfalls and Views Near Cashiers, NC

Nature.  Waterfalls.  Wow.  Can you get enough of them?  We hope that you enjoyed Waterfalls and Views with Easy Walks Near Cashiers, NC and invite you to relax and enjoy some more of the incredible sights that we saw in the Cashiers and Highlands area of North Carolina.  This first view is not a waterfall, though it is impressive.  Let us jump right in!

Sunset Rock and Sunrise Rock

Most of the places that we visited were a short walk from the road or even right at the road.  Sunset Rock and Ravenel Park has a one lane, gravel road that is about six tenths of a mile long, which makes is about a 1.2 mile walk round trip.  Of course, you can rest for as long as you want at the top.

Once you get to the top of the path, which is said to raise about 300 feet as you walk the .6 mile, you will come to a small clearing with a path on each side.  One path takes you to Sunset Rock, and the other path takes you to Sunrise Rock.  We followed the path on the right first, and we came out to this view.

The elevated and exposed rock gives you views overlooking the town of Highlands and of mountains in the not too far distance.  While it is pretty fascinating, I am not embarrassed to tell you that I was in no way interested in getting to close to the edge of the cliff.

The rock area is huge.  If you might be thinking of finding a place to pause in your day and have a meal, Sunset Rock certainly provides a unique place for a picnic.  Views and fresh air in the mountains could make a pleasant ambiance.  You could even bring a picnic blanket.  Please be sure to stay in a safe area, though.

Yes, there are actually flowers growing out of the rock!  Nature is amazing, eh?

We met a bunch of really nice folks at Sunset Rock, and we took turns taking pictures of one another.  Then a group of us wandered over to Sunrise Rock, which is on the other side of the clearing at the top of the gravel road.

This picture of my guys standing together and enjoying the view makes me smile.  They went ahead of me to discover that Sunrise Rock is not nearly as immense as Sunset Rock.

However, the view is incredible.  Even on this rainy and cloudy day, it was moving to see.

Bridal Veil Falls

If you are not paying attention, you can drive right past this waterfall since Bridal Veil Falls is literally on the side of the road.  Here we are sitting among the rocks where the water hits.  Do you see the road in the background?

There are different kinds of waterfalls, and Bridal Veil Falls is what is known as a plunge.  This means that the water breaks away from the rocks underneath it and drops through the air 120 feet to the ground.  It is pretty and still powerful.

You can see a concrete driveway under the waterfall before it hits the rocks.  Apparently, you can drive your vehicle under/behind the waterfall.  The day that we were there, though, there were things blocking both sides of the circular drive.  Someone did go back there on his motorcycle to take pictures.

You can also see a cave back there behind me above, and here is Boy showing us the size of the cave.

Bridal Veil Falls is not a very big area, yet it has a bunch of interesting features.  This waterfall is an excellent example of how you can see beauty anywhere and of how nature will keep being nature no matter what man does around it.

Dry Falls

Dry Falls is about two minutes down the road from Bridal Veil Falls, and there is a huge parking lot and public bathrooms available for use.

You do have to walk down to Dry Falls for the experience, yet there is an overlook for those who are content to gaze at the view from above.

A bit of good news here for folks who are not hikers is that there are stairs and walkways all of the way down to the falls, part of which you can see in this picture.

Another thing that you might see is that bright spot behind the falls.  That is us!  Wait…what?

Let us go down a bit closer.  Imagine the sounds of the water crashing onto the rocks below.  What a refreshing melody it is!

Now that we are looking at this angle, it might be more clear how we were behind the waterfall.  One of the draws of Dry Falls is that, the way that the earth has formed or eroded behind the falls, you can actually walk right under the waterfall.

Yes, this is another plunge waterfall.  The water rolls right off of the end of the rock face above and descends through the air to the surface seventy-five feet below.

After walking under Dry Falls, we followed the path to the other side to enjoy this view.

The waterfall really does look like a different place from this perspective.

One thing that I admired was this tree.  It intrigues me to see when nature takes over man made structures over time.  Here the tree is actually determined to grow and spread its roots despite all of the rocks around it, which are not man made at all but another piece of nature.

As we went back up to the parking lot, we got one more glimpse of Dry Falls under the sunshine.

Cullasaja River Gorge Waterfall

We could not find this place at first.  It turns out that it is easy to miss from the road if you are not looking for it.  There is a small pull off area on the side of the road.  Small.  It is potentially a dangerous place to get out of the car.  From the side of the road, this is what we could see.

The Cullasaja River creates this beautiful waterfall, yet it is in a place that is difficult to access by foot.  There is a small path that leads down to the falls, yet it is not an official trail.  According to several places on the internet, it is not recommended that you even attempt to go down the path unless you are experienced at steep hiking.

At 250 feet tall, this waterfall does offer a majestic view.  Even from a distance, Cullasaja Falls, which is part of Mountain Waters Scenic Byway, looks like a massive, incredible part of the Cullasaja River.  Do you see how tiny that tree looks laying on the waterfall?

What Next?

Cullasaja Falls was the last sight to see on our list.  However, we discovered one other place that we decided to visit and happened upon two others.  Come back for the third and final part of this three part series sharing our delightful journey to see the sights in the mountains of western North Carolina!

Be Sure not to miss Part One and Part Three (coming later this week)!