Big Laurel Falls is a 20-foot waterfall on Big Laurel Branch in Macon County, North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge region. It lies about 9.7 miles northwest of Mountain City and roughly 64 miles west of Greenville as the crow flies.
At 20 feet it is on the modest side for North Carolina, where the typical waterfall with a recorded height stands around 50 feet; it ranks 242nd of 288. By form it is a tiered waterfall, falling in several distinct steps one after another. It falls in 2 drops.
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.
Macon County holds 49 recorded waterfalls, and several are close by. Mooney Falls, a tiered waterfall, is under a mile away. High Falls, a 140-foot tiered waterfall, is about 1.3 miles away. Bull Cove Falls, a 40-foot tiered waterfall, is about 2.3 miles away.
Big Laurel Falls is located at 35.0180° N, 83.5054° 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.