Your Guide To: The Best Swimming Holes near Asheville
This is your guide to: The Best Swimming Holes near Asheville, North Carolina
We’ve rounded up the best places to beat the heat & cool off near Asheville this summer! Check out the best swimming holes ⤵️
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1. Looking Glass Falls
Location: US-276, Brevard, NC
Distance from Asheville: 45 minutes
"Looking Glass Falls is a very popular swimming hole on a hot summer day. It is one of the most popular and beautiful waterfalls in North Carolina. And it's perhaps the easiest to view (one of the few accessible roadside waterfalls, making it perfect for folks with mobility and walking challenges)." - Romantic Asheville
2. Upper Creek Falls
Location: 6118 Wind Song Ln, Newland, NC
Distance from Asheville: 1 hour 15 minutes
A popular summer swimming spot! There is a rope swing, used by many to swing out and drop off into the "pool", very deep water pooled in the creek. The water stays ice cold year around. You can also use the smaller falls as a slide down into the "pool."
3. Sliding Rock
Distance from Asheville: 49 minutes
Sliding Rock is located in Pisgah National Forest just north of Brevard, 7.6 miles from the junction of US Highways 64 and 276. You’re invited to “take the plunge” down a 60-foot slippery cascade into the 50-60 degree, 8-foot deep pool. There is an upper observation deck at the top. Lifeguards are on duty from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Entrance fees are $4.00 per person.
4. Hooker Falls
Distance from Asheville: 49 minutes
Located in DuPont State Forest, Hooker Falls is a 12-ft. waterfall with a wide drop into a pool that creates a beautiful setting and a great spot for splashing around on hot summer days. Hooker Falls is the only waterfall area in DuPont State Forest that is safe for swimming.
5. Paradise Falls
Location: 12296 NC-281, Tuckasegee, NC
Distance from Asheville: 1 hour 27 minutes
"In the wilds near Tuckasegee, North Carolina, is a 100-foot-tall waterfall where Wolf Creek drops dramatically into a slot canyon in true peek-a-boo fashion. The effect is as mesmerizing as is the emerald green swimming hole just beyond the drop."
6. Turtleback Falls
Location: 976 Grassy Ridge Rd, Lake Toxaway, NC
Distance from Asheville: 1 hour 10 minutes
"Turtleback Falls NC is an amazing and popular sliding rock and swimming hole, located deep inside Pisgah National Forest, near Sapphire, NC. Turtleback Falls is uniquely shaped, offering the ability to climb up to the top, and then sliding back down. The slide includes a unique "plunge" of about 10-15 feet high due to the umbrella shape of the rock."
7. Bust Your Butt Falls
Location: Cullasaja River, Highlands, NC
Distance from Asheville: 1 hour 25 minutes
"Drive 6 miles on US 64 West to pull over on right or left. This is a popular swimming hole. For the brave, one can jump off a boulder into the Cullasaja River."
8. Little Bradley Falls
Location: Holbert Cove Rd, Saluda, NC
Distance from Asheville: 44 minutes
"Little Bradley Falls is an exceptionally beautiful 50 foot multi-tiered waterfall near Saluda, North Carolina. This gorgeous waterfall is at the end of an easy and almost two mile roundtrip hike."
9. Elk River Falls
Location: Elk River Rd, Elk Park, NC
Distance from Asheville: 1 hour 36 minutes
"Elk Falls is the most impressive waterfall from a sheer volume standpoint.The plunge pool is extremely large and certain to be busy in the summer months. Downstream of the pool are a couple of short (~5 ft) cascades before the river levels out. Farther downstream is Twisted Falls. Please exercise caution and good judgment at the falls. While beautiful, it can be very hazardous. Please use caution and obey all rules and warnings. Note that topo maps identify waterfall as “Big Falls” and not Elk Falls. They are one and the same."
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