Soco Falls is a 35-foot segmented waterfall on Soco Creek in Jackson County, North Carolina, on the Qualla Boundary near Maggie Valley and Cherokee. A smaller unnamed tributary drops beside it in a second horsetail.
The falls
Soco Creek and the unnamed tributary come down as adjacent segmented horsetails. The Soco Creek fall stands 35 feet tall, a figure a lidar analysis confirms; the tributary fall runs about 23 to 25 feet by the same analysis. The larger fall is estimated elsewhere at closer to 50 feet.
Getting there
From Cherokee, the falls are about 10 miles out US 19; from Maggie Valley, the parking area is about 1 mile past the Blue Ridge Parkway underpass. A rebuilt trail, just over a quarter mile one way, descends about 200 feet to a viewing deck. The site reopened in August 2025 after the parking area, trail and deck were rebuilt.
When to go
The deck is small, and visitors may need to wait for an unobstructed view of the falls.
On site
The trail ends at the deck. Whether visitors can reach the base or top, swim, or bring dogs, and whether the deck is wheelchair accessible, is not documented.
Nearby
Polecat Branch Falls is about 1.1 miles away, Cranberry Falls about 1.3 miles, and Rough Branch Falls about 1.5 miles.
Distances are straight-line.