Windy Falls

Windy Falls is the largest waterfall along the Horsepasture River, and is also said to be one of the most difficult waterfalls to access in North Carolina. The falls are situated in the deepest portion of the Horsepasture River Gorge, with no trails venturing nearby. The falls are composed of a series of cascades over an undetermined length of river, and this has partly led to confusion over the true height of the falls. Many sources suggest the falls drop a total of 720 feet, but this amount of elevation change would have to account for a run of over two-thirds of a mile of river. While there are numerous individual waterfalls in this stretch of the Horsepasture River, the distances between each distinct drop are too great for them to be considered one congruent series of falls, and thus should be split into separate entries. The largest individual section of falls, which is what the USGS marks as Windy Falls on its topographic maps, consists of two steep sliding cascades which drop a total of about 260 feet. Immediately downstream are two more smaller cascades which each appear to drop perhaps 30-40 feet, which could bring the total height of the falls to around 320-340 feet. However it isn't clear whether these two cascades are formed by bedrock ledges or just due to the large boulders strewn along the floor of the gorge constricting the river, in which case they wouldn't be qualified as part of the falls.