Burningtown Falls is a 30-foot waterfall on Downes Branch in Macon County, North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge region. It lies about 6.8 miles west of Franklin and roughly 57.2 miles southeast of Knoxville as the crow flies.
At 30 feet it is on the modest side for North Carolina, where the typical waterfall with a recorded height stands around 50 feet; it ranks 201st of 288. By form it is a horsetail, where the water keeps some contact with the bedrock as it falls.
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. Downes Branch carries 2 recorded waterfalls, and Burningtown Falls is the tallest of them.
Macon County holds 49 recorded waterfalls, and several are close by. Upper Burningtown Falls, a cascade waterfall, is under a mile away. Fall Branch Falls, is under a mile away. Indian Camp Creek Falls, 50 feet high, is about 2.5 miles away.
Burningtown Falls is located at 35.2070° N, 83.4982° 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 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.