Let’s take a look at one of my waterfall listings, and from it, I will explain what all of it means, even though much of it is self-explanatory. There are 8 pieces of information on every listing.
Accessibility – Hard
Height – 50′
Distance – 7.2 miles (out and back)
Beauty – 6
Photo rating – 4
Solitude – 8
GPS Info: LAT 35.15329 LONG -82.28778
Last Updated – 03-30-2025
Accessibility
How difficult is it to access this waterfall, and what factors determine the level of difficulty? Since everyone has different skill levels, I try and base my accessibility on what an average person might experience. The moment the hike goes off-trail, the difficulty goes up. Many of the hikes on my site make for a nice read, but very few will actually tackle them. When we get to the Hard and Hard+ ratings, those listings often detail some of the dangers involved in this hike. There are seven possible ratings.
Easy: Pull over, hop out, and have a look. Walk a paved path to the falls. Under a mile total.
Easy+: Pull over, hop out, walk the graded, marked trail for a mile or two round trip.
Moderate: It’s on a trail, an old road, a manway. Typically ranges from 2 to 5 miles. It could include a scramble path.
Moderate+: It starts on a trail or roadbed, ventures off-trail for a short time. Distance isn’t a factor. This is more about the degree of difficulty from the off-trail portion.
Hard: The bushwhack is thick and steep, and the possibility of getting hurt or lost is high. These tend to be hikes where it’s impossible to provide specifics other than head down toward the sound of falling water. Distance can be a factor when I’m talking about trail hikes that cover more than 24 miles.
Hard+: You’re not going to like it. There is no trail, the terrain is insanely steep, the route is vague at best, it involves narrow ledges, and you could get hurt or worse. These are hikes where you encounter one or two places where a fall would be catastrophic.
Oh boy: Only the worst of the worst get this rating. It’s all the bad stuff and then some.
Height
How tall is the waterfall? This is the total height, not the photographic height. Pictures from the base often miss some stuff above. Waterfalls are sometimes configured in such a way that you can’t see all of them from one vantage point. These are estimated heights.
Distance
How long is the hike there and back? Be it a simple out-and-back, a loop, a lollipop loop, or a shuttle, how many miles am I committing to today?
Out and back: Take Trail A to the waterfall, hike Trail A back to the car. Same route both ways, be it on or off trail.
Loop Hike: Take Trail A to the waterfall, then follow Trail B to Trail C to return to your car.
Lollipop Loop: Take Trail A until it ends at the junction of Trails B and C. Make a left to get to the waterfall, then follow Trail B around to Trail C, ending at Trail A.
Shuttle: Leave car A at one end, drive car B to the other end. and hike to car A. This is ideal for hikes that start at high elevations and end at lower elevations.
Beauty
This is entirely subjective, and I grade them on a scale of 1 to 10. I don’t give out many ones, and I give out even fewer tens. Just saying. I have certain varieties of waterfalls that I prefer, and they get rated higher. You likely won’t agree with my ratings, and I probably won’t agree with yours. Unlike a lot of people, I’m not afraid to slap twos and threes on waterfalls. What can I say? Some of them are trash.
Photo Rating
How well does this waterfall photograph? I’m not talking about aiming an iPhone at it and clicking off half a dozen shots. How is the lighting, the composition, the amount of clutter, the number of people, and the water flow? When it comes to water flow, more doesn’t mean better. White Owl Falls looks awful in high water, but amazing in low flow. What else is in the shot? Is there a viewing deck, power lines, or a house? This is also subjective and can be influenced by the conditions on the day of my visit. Lighting changes, but the house next to the falls is constant. Also graded one to ten. Lots of tens on my site.
Solitude
How likely is it that I’m going to see someone else on a visit to this waterfall? Can I hear cars and motorcycles racing past? Lots of eights and higher in this category. There’s a whole lot of falling water out there that no one goes to visit. The running joke among my friends is that if we see someone at this waterfall, we probably know them.
GPS Info
Where exactly is this waterfall? When it’s time to leave the trail, having that waypoint marked is nice. I suggest you plug it into your tracking app ahead of time so as not to find out I transposed two numbers and the waypoint is 247 miles away.
Last Updated
How old is this information? Trail conditions change, and events like Hurricane Helene happen, and the forest changes. Trees fall, and fires occur. If it’s been 5 years since the last update, there’s a good chance things have changed. I try to keep things updated, but there are over 1,000 waterfalls on my site. Even names change. I likely have two dozen pages that still refer to it as Clingman’s Dome.