Accessibility – Hard
Height: 20′ (includes bottom cascade)
Distance – 6.0 (out and back)
Beauty – 5
Photo rating – 7
Solitude – 6
GPS Info: LAT 35.59737 LONG -82.25595
Last Visited – 02-27-2026
Last updated – 02-27-2026
Where to park: There is a large parking area at the end of Catawba River Road, but it fills up very quickly on the weekends. The GPS is: 35.62131, -82.23049.
The Hike: There are two routes to Upper Catawba Falls, where the spur to David’s Falls is located, the Catawba Falls River Trail and the Catawba Ridge Trail, which make a loop. I hiked the Catawba Falls River Trail a few years ago, but it was before the steps.
David’s Falls is a smaller waterfall higher up on the Catawba River, accessible via an obvious path that snakes alongside Upper Catawba Falls. You could get to the spur from either route to Upper Catawba Falls, the steps of the Catawba Ridge Trail. On the path that leads to the deck, a faint trail heads up steely on your right when facing upstream. This narrow path ascends next to Upper Catawba Falls, passing near the brink, where there is some fencing in place to prevent bad decisions, though it likely won’t stop them. The first section past the top of the falls is narrow and high above the river, but after a steep descent to the first crossing, the trail is relatively flat.
There are four crossings in all, and in normal flows, you’ll be getting your feet wet, it’s mostly a choice of how deep. You’ll see and hear the Falls. The hike is about 0.75 miles from when you climbed the steep bank. It is a surprisingly nice waterfall, with the upper steps and the lower cascade, but getting both drops in the same shot is challenging due to the way the drops are aligned and the foliage. The overhanging rock adds another element. The trail to the falls is obviously maintained by someone since there was no downfall to contend with and the rhodos were cut back.
