Ask most visitors what they love about Highlands and you'll hear about the water. The falls along the Cullasaja. The mist that hangs in the gorges at first light. The rhododendron that grows so thick along the trails it forms tunnels.

What almost nobody realizes is that all of it comes from the same source, and it's the one thing people are most likely to check the forecast and worry about.

Rain. Highlands is one of the wettest places in the eastern United States, and all of it, the falls, the moss, the rhododendron, comes from exactly that.

4,118 ft

Elevation on the highest crest of the plateau, where the rain gathers before it falls.

~73 in

The long-term yearly average, routinely the highest of any reporting site in North Carolina.

101 in

The 2024 total. 2025 came in at 87 inches. Both well above average, two years running.

A Rainforest at 4,118 Feet

The word sounds tropical, but it isn't. Highlands sits near the center of one of only two temperate rainforests in the United States. The other is the famous stretch of the Pacific Northwest, the Washington and Oregon coast people picture when they hear the word. "Temperate" is what gives the plateau its four real seasons. "Rainforest" is what gives it everything green.

 

green stream

 

All that rain has to go somewhere. It gathers on the highest crest of the plateau and pours off the edges, which is why Highlands has one of the densest collections of waterfalls in the region. Cullasaja, Dry Falls, Bridal Veil, Glen Falls. The same water keeps the gorges damp, the moss on the rock, the salamanders in the seeps, and the rhododendron and mountain laurel thick enough to close over the trail.

On a foggy morning the whole plateau sits under a low ceiling of cloud. It is the same water, moving slowly through the air instead of down the rock.

 

The Best Days Are the Wet Ones

Rain is good timing, not bad. The falls are fullest right after it, and the wet light through the trees is worth the trip on its own.

Bring a good jacket and a gray forecast turns into the best day of the trip. The trails smell like wet earth and green growth, the falls are loud, and the crowds thin out. Locals will tell you the mountain is at its best in the mist.

 

waterfall

 

The dry, sunny mountain towns to the west and south are lovely. But they don't have the waterfalls, and they can't grow what Highlands grows. That takes water. Highlands has always had the water.

When You Go

The classic wet-weather drive is the Mountain Waters Scenic Byway along US-64 through the Cullasaja Gorge, where several of the best falls sit within a few miles of one another. Dry Falls is exactly what it sounds like: a fall you can walk behind and stay reasonably dry. Pack a rain shell, wear real shoes, and save the waterfall drive for the grayest day of your trip, not the sunniest.

  • The DriveMountain Waters Scenic Byway, US-64 through the Cullasaja Gorge
  • Walk Behind ItDry Falls, a short paved path off the byway
  • Best ConditionsA gray, misty morning after rain, when the falls run full
  • BringA rain shell and shoes with grip. The rock stays wet.