Hurricane Falls is a 40-foot waterfall on Laurel Branch in Jackson County, North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge region. It lies about 12.6 miles south of Cullowhee and roughly 45.4 miles southwest of Asheville as the crow flies.
At 40 feet it is on the modest side for North Carolina, where the typical waterfall with a recorded height stands around 50 feet; it ranks 166th 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. Laurel Branch carries 3 recorded waterfalls; the biggest of them reaches 138 feet.
Jackson County holds 79 recorded waterfalls, and several are close by. Cedar Creek Falls, a tiered waterfall, is about 1.6 miles away. Norton Falls, a 35-foot tiered waterfall, is about 2 miles away. Glassyrock Creek Falls, is about 2 miles away.
Hurricane Falls is located at 35.1367° N, 83.1252° 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.