Mitchell Falls is a 20-foot horsetail waterfall on Mitchell Creek in Yancey County, North Carolina, on the slopes of Mount Mitchell. It is where Elisha Mitchell, the professor whose name the mountain carries, died in 1857, and it sits on private land that is closed to the public.
The falls
Mitchell Creek drops in a single leap into a small, deep pool. The World Waterfall Database puts the drop at about 20 feet from lidar data. Older estimates gave 40 feet; Wikipedia and NCWaterfalls give 25 feet, and the state's historical marker account calls it a sixty-foot waterfall.
Getting there
There is no public access. The falls are on a private hunting reserve downstream from Mount Mitchell State Park, closed to all public access. Groups and photographers have occasionally been given permission in the past, but permission is highly unlikely, and trespassers are likely to be prosecuted.
On site
Swimming and visits are off limits without the owner's consent.
History and name
Elisha Mitchell, a University of North Carolina professor, had argued since the 1830s that a peak in the Black Mountains was the highest in the eastern United States. When Congressman Thomas Clingman challenged his measurements, Mitchell returned to settle the question, and on June 27, 1857, he slipped above the falls and fell into the pool below. The bear hunter "Big Tom" Wilson found his body several days later. Mitchell was buried in Asheville and moved in 1858 to the summit of the peak now named for him; the falls, the mountain and the state park all carry his name.
Nearby
Blue Sea Falls is about 1.8 miles away, Setrock Creek Falls about 3.6 miles and Glassmine Falls about 3.9 miles. Mount Mitchell State Park, upstream on the mountain, holds Mitchell's grave at the summit.
Distances are straight-line.