Big Rock Falls is a 12-foot waterfall on Mill Prong in Madison County, Virginia, in the Blue Ridge region. It lies about 7 miles southeast of Stanley and roughly 24.3 miles east of Harrisonburg as the crow flies.
At 12 feet it is one of the lowest falls in the state’s records: of the 53 Virginia waterfalls with a documented height only 2 are shorter, while the typical Virginia waterfall stands around 69 feet. By form it is a slide, where the water glides down a smooth, inclined rock surface.
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.
Madison County holds 6 recorded waterfalls, and several are close by. Dark Hollow Falls, a 145-foot tiered waterfall, is about 1.6 miles away. Naked Creek Falls, a tiered waterfall, is about 2.1 miles away. Lewis Spring Falls, an 81-foot plunge waterfall, is about 2.2 miles away.
Big Rock Falls is located at 38.4953° N, 78.4239° 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.