Needles Falls is a waterfall on French Broad River in Madison County, North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge region, with a total height of about 6 feet. It lies about 14.6 miles west of Mars Hill and roughly 23.6 miles northwest of Asheville as the crow flies.
At 6 feet it is one of the lowest falls in the state’s records: of the 288 North Carolina waterfalls with a documented height only 1 are shorter, while the typical North Carolina waterfall stands around 50 feet. The water comes down as a block waterfall, wider than it is tall, spilling over a broad ledge.
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. French Broad River carries 2 recorded waterfalls, and Needles Falls is the tallest of them.
There are 5 recorded waterfalls in Madison County. Surprise Falls, a block waterfall, is about 1.5 miles away. Wolf Creek Falls, a punchbowl waterfall, is about 7 miles away across the state line in Tennessee. Dudley Falls, a 12-foot cascade waterfall, is about 7.1 miles away across the state line in Tennessee.
Needles Falls is located at 35.8759° N, 82.8025° 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.