Burnthouse Branch Falls is a waterfall on Burnthouse Branch in Burke County, North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge region, with a total height of about 120 feet. It lies about 13.8 miles east of Spruce Pine and roughly 38.8 miles southeast of Johnson City as the crow flies.
At 120 feet it stands in the tallest quarter of North Carolina’s 288 waterfalls with a recorded height, ranking 57th; the typical North Carolina waterfall is about 50 feet. The tallest single drop is 25 feet. The water comes down as a tiered waterfall, falling in several distinct steps one after another.
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.
There are 14 recorded waterfalls in Burke County. Ripshin Branch Falls, is under a mile away. Upper South Harper Creek Falls, a slide waterfall, is about 2 miles away. South Harper Creek Falls, a 120-foot tiered waterfall, is about 2.1 miles away.
Burnthouse Branch Falls is located at 35.9514° N, 81.8220° 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.