Upper Middle Creek Falls is a waterfall on Middle Creek in Macon County, North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge region, with a total height of about 35 feet. It lies about 7 miles northeast of Mountain City and roughly 54 miles west of Greenville as the crow flies.
At 35 feet it is on the modest side for North Carolina, where the typical waterfall with a recorded height stands around 50 feet; it ranks 185th of 288. The water comes down as a cascade, descending over a series of rock steps rather than in a single drop.
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. Middle Creek carries 3 recorded waterfalls; the biggest of them reaches 400 feet.
There are 49 recorded waterfalls in Macon County. Middle Middle Creek Falls, a 400-foot tiered waterfall, is under a mile away. Lower Middle Creek Falls, a 40-foot slide waterfall, is under a mile away. Estatoah Falls, a 185-foot tiered horsetail waterfall, is about 1.6 miles away across the state line in Georgia.
Upper Middle Creek Falls is located at 35.0081° N, 83.3280° 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.