Shunkawauken Falls
by rmajor
After Jim and I left Pearson’s Falls, we headed east to Shunkawauken Falls, which is a roadside waterfall located on White Oak Mountain just north of Columbus, NC. It is rare for a waterfall so close to the top of a mountain to have so much water flow, but a few ponds on top of the mountain keep it supplied with water.
The road leading up to the falls is very steep, and some of the turns are so sharp I thought I was going to have to install a hinge in the middle of my big van to get around them.
We had to park in a pulloff about 100 yards above the falls.
An opening in the trees revealed just how far we had climbed. That’s the junction of I-26 and Hwy 108 at Columbus visible below, and we had just been there a little while ago.
Even this close to falls, it is not visible from the road. One must get past the trees and bushes on the left side of the road to see the falls. The falls are just to the left of the split rail fence. Be careful not to back up too far on the other side of the road. There’s no fence there and it’s a long way down!
Pictures could never do this waterfall justice, and words cannot describe the feeling of awe and wonder I experienced upon suddenly looking nearly straight up at 150 feet of waterfall.
The water flows under the road and out the other side. From this angle, there appears to be as much waterfall below the road as above it. This is the steep dropoff I mentioned earlier.
By walking down the road a bit, we were able to get a view of the lower portion of the falls through the trees.
A couple of nice boulders decorated the roadside below the falls.