Harper Creek Falls is a 40-foot waterfall on Harper Creek in Caldwell County, North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge region. It lies about 11.9 miles southwest of Blowing Rock and roughly 39.3 miles southeast of Johnson City as the crow flies.
At 40 feet it is on the modest side for North Carolina, where the typical waterfall with a recorded height stands around 50 feet; it ranks 166th of 288. By form it is a tiered waterfall, falling in several distinct steps one after another. It falls in 3 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. Harper Creek carries 4 recorded waterfalls; the biggest of them reaches 120 feet.
Caldwell County holds 11 recorded waterfalls, and several are close by. Phillips Branch Falls, a 35-foot tiered waterfall, is about 1.1 miles away. Thorps Creek Falls, a 15-foot tiered waterfall, is about 1.6 miles away. South Harper Creek Falls, a 120-foot tiered waterfall, is about 1.8 miles away.
Harper Creek Falls is located at 35.9832° N, 81.7791° 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.