Name of Waterfall

Lower Whitewater Falls

Description

Lower Whitewater Falls is the second massive waterfall along the Whitewater River as it tumbles down to Lake Jocassee. The falls consist of four distinct tiers totaling about 380 feet in height, with individual drops of about 55, 30, 250, and 40 feet respectively. The falls have commonly been cited as standing 400 feet tall, however the USGS 7-1/2 inch quadrangle topographic maps seemed to suggest this was a considerable exaggeration, and led us to initially list the falls as much shorter. However, upon analyzing 1 meter resolution lidar data, we can confirm the falls are indeed about as tall as claimed.The USGS recognizes this waterfall as simply Lower Falls, counter to Upper Falls in North Carolina, but like it's upper counterpart the most commonly used name for the falls is Lower Whitewater Falls. Jocassee Falls is an old name which is long out of use, and Charashilactay is the native tongue name.

Other Names

['Lower Falls', 'Jocassee Falls', 'Falls of the Charashilactay']

Total Height (ft)

380

Tallest Drop

250

Number of Drops

4

Average Width

40

Watershed or Feeder Stream

Whitewater River