Lanier Falls is a 3-foot waterfall on Cape Fear River in Harnett County, North Carolina, in the Piedmont region. It lies about 7.1 miles east of Broadway and roughly 23.1 miles south of Cary as the crow flies.
At 3 feet it is one of the lowest falls in the state’s records: of the 288 North Carolina waterfalls with a documented height only 0 are shorter, while the typical North Carolina waterfall stands around 50 feet. By form it is a block waterfall, wider than it is tall, spilling over a broad ledge.
The Piedmont is rolling upland between the Appalachians and the coastal plain, with mixed oak-pine forest, farmland and expanding cities. Waterfalls mark the fall line and the rocky beds of rivers crossing hard crystalline rock.
It is the only recorded waterfall in Harnett County. McPhersons Creek Falls, a 15-foot plunge waterfall, is about 23.1 miles away.
Lanier Falls is located at 35.4796° N, 78.9302° 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.