Hazel Creek Cascades is a 20-foot waterfall on Hazel Creek in Swain County, North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge region. It lies about 10.9 miles northwest of Bryson City and roughly 34.4 miles southeast of Knoxville as the crow flies.
At 20 feet it is on the modest side for North Carolina, where the typical waterfall with a recorded height stands around 50 feet; it ranks 242nd of 288. By form it is 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.
Swain County holds 22 recorded waterfalls, and several are close by. Rock Slab Falls, a tiered waterfall, is about 4.3 miles away. Indian Flats Falls, a 60-foot tiered waterfall, is about 4.3 miles away across the state line in Tennessee. Fish Camp Cascades, a cascade waterfall, is about 5.1 miles away across the state line in Tennessee.
Hazel Creek Cascades is located at 35.5451° N, 83.5830° 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.