Upper Sam Branch Falls is a 520-foot waterfall on Sam Branch in Haywood County, North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge region. It lies about 11 miles southeast of Hazelwood and roughly 26.2 miles southwest of Asheville as the crow flies.
At 520 feet it is among the ten tallest of the 288 North Carolina waterfalls with a recorded height, ranking 4th. The tallest single drop is 80 feet. By form it is a tiered waterfall, falling in several distinct steps one after another.
The Blue Ridge is the highest part of the southern Appalachians, a range of forested peaks and coves with oak, hickory, tulip poplar and hemlock and spruce-fir on the summits, in one of the wettest climates in the East. Steep mountain streams drop over granite, gneiss and quartzite ledges, giving the region hundreds of waterfalls. Sam Branch carries 2 recorded waterfalls, and Upper Sam Branch Falls is the tallest of them.
Haywood County holds 23 recorded waterfalls, and several are close by. Lower Sam Branch Falls, a 60-foot tiered waterfall, is under a mile away. Wash Hollow Falls, a 45-foot horsetail waterfall, is under a mile away. Sunburst Falls, a tiered waterfall, is under a mile away.
Upper Sam Branch Falls is located at 35.3387° N, 82.8913° W. The listing is based on the World Waterfall Database, one of the sources compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey in its inventory of waterfalls and rapids of the conterminous United States. The creek name is confirmed against the federal Geographic Names Information System. The position was verified on aerial imagery. Details on trails, parking and access have not been documented for this waterfall yet.