Big Laurel Branch Falls is a 50-foot waterfall on Big Laurel Branch in Carter County, Tennessee, in the Blue Ridge region. It lies about 3 miles southeast of Hunter and roughly 13.2 miles east of Johnson City as the crow flies.
At 50 feet it stands in the tallest quarter of Tennessee’s 332 waterfalls with a recorded height, ranking 78th; the typical Tennessee waterfall is about 30 feet. By form it is a horsetail, where the water keeps some contact with the bedrock as it falls.
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.
Carter County holds 17 recorded waterfalls, and several are close by. Laurel Falls, a 55-foot block waterfall, is about 4.8 miles away. Middle Laurel Falls, an 18-foot block waterfall, is about 4.9 miles away. Coon Den Falls, a 50-foot horsetail waterfall, is about 6.1 miles away.
Big Laurel Branch Falls is located at 36.3415° N, 82.1193° 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 exact position has not yet been verified on aerial imagery, so treat the map pin as approximate. Details on trails, parking and access have not been documented for this waterfall yet.