Whitewater Falls

Whitewater Falls is usually claimed to be the tallest waterfall in North Carolina and often the tallest waterfall east of the Mississippi River. The falls are said to drop 411 feet, but topographic data indicates this to be unlikely. The USGS 7-1/2 inch topographic maps suggest the falls to be somewhere around 280 feet tall, but they aren't known to be terribly accurate. Terrain models available on Google Earth which appear to be based on LIDAR data (albeit somewhat spotty data) suggest the height to be more like 345-feet, and 1-meter resolution lidar data available from the USGS confirms this to be a much more accurate measurement, with that data clocking in at a height of 337 feet in two steps, with individual drops of about 120 and 215 feet respectively.The USGS recognizes this waterfall as Upper Falls, however the more colloquially accepted name is Whitewater Falls - which is also used by the Forest Service - or Upper Whitewater Falls.