Kalakaleskies Falls

Kalakaleskies Falls is a 25-foot waterfall on Cullasaja River in Macon County, North Carolina.  The waterfall is located at the start of the Cullasaja Gorge in Nantahala National Forest near Highlands.

Hike Length: < 0.1 miles
Estimated Time: < 1 hour
Difficulty: Difficult
Location: Cullasaja Gorge (Nantahala Ranger District of Nantahala National Forest)
Trail Users: Hiking only
Dogs: Yes, but the path is not dog friendly.
Features: Waterfalls (1)
Crowds: Low
Warnings: The path to view the waterfall is extremely steep and slippery.
Trailhead GPS: 35.06786,-83.22534
Waterfall GPS: 35.06760,-83.22559

Directions:

From Highlands, head west on US-64 for about 2.5 miles.  Immediately after passing Sequoyah Lake, turn left into a pull-off at the dam and park.

Map:

Hike Description:

From the parking area, you can see the scenic drop over the dam, but this is not the waterfall.

An obvious path leads from the parking area downstream 100 feet.  It turns left and becomes very steep and dangerous to continue down to a point with a view of the waterfall.

There are some cascades below the main drop but  I don't think you can get further down.

Blog Entries:

30-Dec-2020: Highlands Waterfalls