United States 
In numbers.
Mar–May
Nov
Best months
1,036m
Elevation
The water at Dry Falls, month by month
It roars from November to May.
The fullest months: from November to May.
- 98%Jan
- 98%Feb
- 100%Mar
- 92%Apr
- 80%May
- 69%Jun
- 70%Jul
- 65%Aug
- 67%Sep
- 68%Oct
- 78%Nov
- 100%Dec
Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from March to May and November.
Estimate from rain, snowmelt and evaporation month by month (NASA POWER, 1991–2020) around the falls. Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Waterfall in North Carolina, United States
Dry Falls is a waterfall in United States. It lies within Nantahala National Forest.
Getting there.
- Franklinnearest town · 18 km in a straight line
- Parking 70 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Asheville Regional Airport (AVL)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 75 km in a straight lineCar hire at AVL airport (Asheville)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From March to May and Novemberbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 38 m in 1.4 km. Here the river runs about 66 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- 1viewpointsDry Falls Viewing Platform
- —waymarked walking routes
- 7car parks
- 2swimming spots
- 2picnic sites
- 5toilets
- 2information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- 13other named waterfalls within 4 kmBlue Valley Falls, Scandin Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and 10 more
- —caves
- 2campsitesVan Hook Glade Campground
- 9hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmThe Chandler Inn, Half-Mile Farm, 200 Main and 6 more
- 1restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Franklin18 km in a straight line
- Mountain City21 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 5 | 7 | 12 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 27 | 27 | 24 | 18 | 12 | 7 |
| Night °C | -5 | -4 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 12 | 6 | 0 | -3 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 118 | 119 | 118 | 116 | 121 | 119 | 134 | 118 | 115 | 104 | 113 | 147 |
| Wet days | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 19 | 21 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 12 |
| Sun h/day | 4.7 | 4.7 | 5.8 | 7.2 | 7.6 | 8.1 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 7.0 | 6.6 | 5.9 | 4.3 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 8 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (1,036 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 159% | 237% | 129% | 163% | 135% | 88% | 86% | 162% | 149% | 170% | 89% | 78% |
| 2021 | 92% | 109% | 192% | 50% | 87% | 104% | 106% | 207% | 73% | 161% | 26% | 57% |
| 2022 | 86% | 148% | 127% | 80% | 129% | 48% | 104% | 88% | 102% | 30% | 129% | 90% |
| 2023 | 157% | 90% | 94% | 131% | 63% | 116% | 75% | 124% | 44% | 26% | 31% | 120% |
| 2024 | 207% | 74% | 141% | 70% | 144% | 53% | 106% | 50% | 255% | 3% | 67% | 104% |
| 2025 | 46% | 110% | 77% | 109% | 151% | 101% | 90% | 131% | 83% | 91% | 37% | 33% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Dry Falls
United States
- —Height
- —Average flow
- Mar–May, NovBest months
Upper Whitewater Falls
United States
- 125 mHeight
- 1.2 m³/sAverage flow
- Feb–Apr, DecBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q37518) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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